The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.

March 7, 1975

The Hockey News March 7, 1975

<h2>Sun. Feb. 16 PHOENIX 5, EDMONTON 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01213/3527425-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="595" height="648"></div><h2>Mon. Feb. 17 HOUSTON 5, QUEBEC 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02149/3527418-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="598" height="581"></div><h2>MINNESOTA 2, CLEVELAND 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03113/3527411-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="587" height="465"></div><h2>INDIANAPOLIS 5, CHICAGO 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0491/3527404-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="598" height="700"></div><h2>Tue. Feb. 18 WINNIPEG 5, BALTIMORE 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0577/3527397-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="595" height="552"></div><h2>PHOENIX 0, SAN DIEGO 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0663/3527390-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="587" height="209"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0753/3527383-1-eng-US/f0028-072.jpg" title="f0028-07" width="598" height="301"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 9, INDIANAPOLIS 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0848/3527376-1-eng-US/f0028-082.jpg" title="f0028-08" width="603" height="609"></div><h2>NEW ENGLAND 3, EDMONTON 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0944/3527369-1-eng-US/f0028-092.jpg" title="f0028-09" width="602" height="553"></div><h2>Wed. Feb. 19 QUEBEC 4, HOUSTON 10</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1043/3527362-1-eng-US/f0028-102.jpg" title="f0028-10" width="571" height="69"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1137/3527355-1-eng-US/f0028-112.jpg" title="f0028-11" width="596" height="618"></div><h2>MINNESOTA 5, CLEVELAND 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1234/3527348-1-eng-US/f0028-122.jpg" title="f0028-12" width="597" height="711"></div><h2>EDMONTON 1, WINNIPEG 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1330/3527341-1-eng-US/f0028-132.jpg" title="f0028-13" width="589" height="326"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1424/3527334-1-eng-US/f0028-142.jpg" title="f0028-14" width="598" height="157"></div><h2>Thu. Feb. 20 VANCOUVER 3, BALTIMORE 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1524/3527327-1-eng-US/f0028-152.jpg" title="f0028-15" width="596" height="523"></div><h2>QUEBEC 2, SAN DIEGO 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1622/3527320-1-eng-US/f0028-162.jpg" title="f0028-16" width="592" height="459"></div><h2>CHICAGO 4, TORONTO 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1717/3527313-1-eng-US/f0028-172.jpg" title="f0028-17" width="593" height="461"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1818/3527306-1-eng-US/f0028-182.jpg" title="f0028-18" width="588" height="181"></div><h2>Fri. Feb. 21 NEW ENGLAND 4, EDMONTON 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1918/3527299-1-eng-US/f0028-192.jpg" title="f0028-19" width="594" height="492"></div><h2>MINNESOTA 2, INDIANAPOLIS 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-2016/3527292-1-eng-US/f0028-202.jpg" title="f0028-20" width="597" height="520"></div><h2>Sat. Feb. 22 VANCOUVER 4, HOUSTON 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-2116/3527285-1-eng-US/f0028-212.jpg" title="f0028-21" width="586" height="539"></div><h2>TORONTO 3, CLEVELAND 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-2215/3527278-1-eng-US/f0028-222.jpg" title="f0028-22" width="592" height="562"></div><h2>PHOENIX 3. BALTIMORE 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-2315/3527271-1-eng-US/f0028-232.jpg" title="f0028-23" width="589" height="394"></div><h2>Sun. Feb. 23 SAN DIEGO 4, QUEBEC 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-2415/3527264-1-eng-US/f0028-242.jpg" title="f0028-24" width="593" height="433"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01179/3527257-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="596" height="200"></div><h2>TORONTO 1, HOUSTON 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02144/3527250-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="595" height="539"></div><h2>CLEVELAND 0, INDIANAPOLIS 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0398/3527243-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="589" height="571"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 1, CHICAGO 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0474/3527236-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="586" height="394"></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

World Hockey Association Summaries

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02157/3527549-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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WHA Team Rosters

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01611/3526470-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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NHL players’ Scoring & Penalty Statistics

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Recently, a reader wrote to complain that too much is written about Danny Maloney as a fighter. He was partly right, too. But the reader must have stopped reading last season. Danny&rsquo;s fighting was over-written last season but not much has been written about Danny&rsquo;s fighting this season because he hasn&rsquo;t been fighting much.Danny&rsquo;s fighting was a fresh angle last season. He came to the Kings as a &ldquo;cop.&rdquo; and policed up foes to the point they stopped trying to push the Kings around. He probably is the best fistfighter in hockey and enjoyed the recognition for awhile. But he wanted to be known as a good player, too. and has been working on that.Danny has had few fights this season, partly because foes steer clear of him. Opposing teams seldom start fights when he&rsquo;s on the ice. However. Danny also isn&rsquo;t looking for fights this season. He denied that he used to do so, but he did. At times, he&rsquo;d take runs at rivals and rough them up.It is possible an experience in the pre-season period shook him up. Flying into a fit of temper at a referee&rsquo;s call in an exhibition game at home, Danny punched the official. Ejected, he went out of his way to apologize to the official before he left the ice. Afterwards, he refused to talk about it.Actually, shy and sensitive off the ice. Maloney may have been embarrassed by the incident. At 24, he already had begun to bear down on his hockey before that and since then he has been a straight-shooter. He remains aggressive. He leads the Kings in penalties. But his total is not excessive.At 6&rsquo;2&rdquo; and 190 pounds, the helmeted Maloney is a typical left winger, big, strong, hard-working, a determined digger. He is not an outstanding skater, stick-handler or shot-maker, but he is becoming a solid all-around performer. He skates his lane, stays in position, checks his wing closely, and takes advantage of scoring opportunities.He is the sort of workman who needs score only 20 to 25 goals to be a big help to a contender. Last season he scored 15 despite missing the last 13 games with a shoulder injury. This season he scored 12 in the first half. He scored his 20th goal in the Kings&rsquo; 56th game recently.When the Kings won six out of seven games on their remarkable road trip, the line of Maloney and Bob Neven flanking center Butch Goring contributed half of the scoring. Its is an interesting line the hard-working wingers flanking a flashy, explosive pivot. But Bob Pulford, who likes to mix up lines, breaks it up from time to time.Danny and his beautiful blonde wife Suzanne have one child, a daughter, Shelley. On a recent road trip, he called home. Susanne put Shelley on the phone and the little one hollered in his ear, &ldquo;Go, Kings. Go!&rdquo; Well, why not? Danny is a holler-guy on the ice, and Suzanne is a holler-gal in the stands, but they live quietly away from the arena in a mountaintop house they have purchased in Woodland Hills. He was studying to be an accountant, but gave it up so he could study hockey harder.Following last season&rsquo;, he went to UCLA track coach Jim Bush, who sets up conditioning courses for interested Kings and Lakers, and was placed on a running program he pursued through the summer. Danny says. &ldquo;The legs are the most important part of a player&rsquo;s body. Strengthening mine has made it easier for me to skate and freed me to make more moves &ldquo;.Now in his second full season with the Kings after almost two full seasons with the Chicago Black Hawks, Maloney has learned a lot about what he can and can&rsquo;t do in the NHL and he is stressing those things he can do. &ldquo;I have confidence in what I can do, so 1 am less concerned about making mistakes, and I am playing more aggressively and getting better position.&rdquo; he says.He used to fight aggressively. Now he is playing aggressively.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01303/3526701-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="570" height="549"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAN MALONEY&hellip;All-Round Performer</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Maloney Working To Make It As Player

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover9/3528477-1-eng-US/cover2.jpg"></div>&mdash;Page 3&lsquo;IRON MAN&rsquo; DANNYGRANTDURABLE VETERAN PERFORMS IN 5OOTH CONSECUTIVE GAME&mdash;Page 23WHA&rsquo;S AEROS CAN SKATE WITH ANY TEAM IN NHL SAYS DINEEN&mdash;Page 29RICK MacLEISH Shifted Out InNEW HAVEN&rsquo;S KESSELL WANTS SHOT WITH SEALS&mdash;Page 31 &#9632;

Cover

NHL, WHA DIVIDED ON OVERTIME

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div>PHILDELPHI A&mdash;Fred Shero insisted he wasn&rsquo;t leaching for the nearest panic button. but after the Flyers had lost three straight to tie their longest losing streaks of the last three seasons Shero unveiled a major line change.Rick MacLeish waved farewell to his wingers. Gary Dornhoefer and Ross Lonsberry. and skated into the left wing slot on Bobby Clarke&rsquo;s line. Versatile Bill Barber. Clarke&rsquo;s left winger for three seasons, replaced MacLeish.Some coaches would be reluctant to tamper with the egos of a 50-goal scorer as MacLeish was two years ago. or a two-time 30-goal scorer like Barber. As we&rsquo;ve learned, however. Shero isn&rsquo;t your average, clichespouting. don&rsquo;t-annoy-the-owner type coach.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02805/3525712-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="268" height="436"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rick MacLeish</figcaption></div>Shero declined to specify why MacLeish. who was near his 35-goal pace of a year ago. was shifted to left wing for the second time in 13 games.&ldquo;We have our reasons.&rdquo; Shero said in his politician imitation of trying not to offend anyone. &ldquo;When we make switches likes this, it makes everyone stronger. What if someone gets hurt and we need Barber at center in the playoffs?&rdquo;Playoffs, layoffs: the point was the Flyers needed some spark and Shero&rsquo;s latest innovation was the answer.In their 4-i slump-breaking victory over Chicago. MacLeish scored one goal (his 20th) and two assists while Barber played as if he and his new wingers had been linemates for years. Two games later. MacLeish collected goal number 2i on a slick feed from Reg Leach, who later provided the ganie-winner over Boston.Predictably, everyone seemed happy with the changes.&ldquo;I like left wing,&rdquo; said MacLeish. &ldquo;I know if 1 give Clarkie the puck and break. I&rsquo;ll get it back. I played left wing at Oklahoma City with Reggie and we seemed to know what we were doing. There&rsquo;s a little more responsibility at the wing.&rdquo;Defensive responsibility and occasional &ldquo;Sunday afternoon skates&rdquo; while the Flyers were attacking have been the biggest criticisms of the smooth-skating MacLeish. prompting the nickname &ldquo;Velvet Fog&rdquo;.&ldquo;Maybe Ricky likes left wing because he&rsquo;s tired of Dorny and I giving him heck.&rdquo; said Lonsberry. &ldquo;Ricky&rsquo;s a pretty good hockey player if he puts his mind to it.&rdquo;In a rare burst of emotion. MacLeish resented accusations of loafing.&ldquo;Do you see anybody else on this team except Clarkie bearing down every game?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;Why criticize me?&rdquo;Well, the main reason is people see MacLeish&rsquo;s abundant natural talent and wonder why he doesn&rsquo;t contribute every game. Shero defends MacLeish. reminding critics &ldquo;he&rsquo;s only 23. When (Phil) Esposito was that age he didn&rsquo;t even have a regular job. The only thing that frustrates me about MacLeish is I can see where he can do more.&rdquo;Captain Clarke also dropped a hint that it&rsquo;s time MacLeish fulfilled his role.&ldquo;The way Ricky can skate he can be in the clear all night.&rdquo; said Clarke. &ldquo;One or two games isn&rsquo;t a season, but he should realize his value to our hockey club and how much we need him every game.&rdquo;Across the dressing room, the talented Barber accepted the new assignment agreeably.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t mind.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a little difficult adjusting, especially forechecking. but I&rsquo;ve got good wingers and they make it easy for me.&rdquo;The unpredictable Shero may have altered his lines again, but at least he knows MacLeish and Barber can be effective at more than one position. &#9632;

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Shero Not Pushing Flyers’ Panic Button But Losing Streak Necessitates Change

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01874/3525743-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rangers&rsquo; Rod Gilbert has a new left wing partner on the GAG Line and between them they are putting power in the New York offense. For details see page 10.</figcaption></div><h2>WHA WON&rsquo;T TOUCH KIDS</h2>MONTREAL&mdash;The WHA has promised the CAHA it will keep hands off under-age juniors this year. Gordon.luckes. the amateur body&rsquo;s executive director, said he received a verbal commitment from the WHA they would not draft the fuzzy-cheeked kids this summer.Juckes said WHA board chairman Ben Hatskin told him the WHA agreed at its recent Las Vegas meetings that it would respect Canadian Health and Welfare Minister Marc Lalonde&rsquo;s request not to draft &lsquo;under-age players&rsquo; this year. The move is contrary to Toronto Toros&rsquo; president John Bassett&rsquo;s statement that it was illegal for pro teams not to draft and sign 18-year-olds if they were good enough to make pro clubs.The problem appears to be an internal one which the WHA will have to settle among themselves. The NHL has already assured the CAHA it won&rsquo;t pluck the young hockey plums from the trees this time around as both leagues did last year to the detriment of junior hockey in Canada.<h2>COUGARS OFFER REFUNDS</h2>CHICAGO&mdash;The Chicago Cougars have been losing money this season in the WHA but their latest caper tends to smack a little at the suicidal. Can you imagine refunding every fan who walks through the door the price of admission if the Cougars lost the game on the ice.That&rsquo;s what the player-owned Cougars pulled on their fans the night of Feb. 23 when they opposed Joe Crozier&rsquo;s Vancouver Blazers in their band-box arena. The Cougars offered the fans their money back if they lost. Fortunately they won 2-1 even if it took a third-period goal by rookie Gary MacGregor to keep the money in the till. A total of 4,162 fans turned up for the game.<h2>SABRES TO SWEDEN?</h2>BUFFALO&mdash;If you believe what you hear, the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL could be going to Sweden this fall to play four exhibition games against Swedish first division teams.Arne Stromberg, the former Swedish coaching master, who run a vast European hockey school in the south of Sweden during the month of August, says he has been negotiating with the NHL Sabres to go over and conduct an eight-day training camp as well as play some exhibition games. Stromberg said the idea looks promising and if the Sabres agree to it, they will start their Swedish tour Sept. 2.<h2>SEATTLE GETS EXTENSION</h2>SEATTLE&mdash;Seattle could be in the NHL next year season, one year ahead of schedule, if club owner Vince Abbey comes up with a $1 million dollar letter of credit for the NHL&rsquo;s expansion committee by Feb. 26.The Seattle team has three alternatives open to them to join the NHL ahead of the projected 1976-77 expansion of the league. The first two would be the purchase of one of the existing franchises&mdash;California or Pittsburgh. The third is an expansion team. Both Seattle and Denver have been offered the same deadline to implement their previous offer to gain a team by next season. Denver has been pursuing the NHL to take over the California franchise, which the NHL currently owns and finances at a considerable financial loss.Both Pittsburgh and California brass have reiterated they will remain at their present sites and are not moving to Denver or Seattle. &#9632;

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Deadline Stoppers

<div class="byline">BY RALPH BRIDGLAND</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01879/3525781-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Teams like the New York Islanders might rank higher in their division race had they had the opportunity of playing overtime. The Isles&rsquo; 15 draws were third highest in the NHL.</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;When the World Hockey Association began operation in 1972 the league&rsquo;s executive felt that a new flair was going to have to be added to their brand of hockey in order to compete with the already established National Hockey League.The WHA attempted to create a sports spectacle by introducing colored pucks, flashy uniforms for the officials, overtime play and a shootout to break ties following the overtime period.Perhaps the most significant innovation. and one of the few remaining ones, introduced by the WHA was, and still is, the 10-minute sudden-death overtime should a regular season contest be deadlocked at the conclusion of regulation time.Obiously the new league feels that in this day of inflation and rising ticket prices, their paying customers should get as much for the charge of admission as is possible, while at the same time adding an extra element of excitement to each game.The two rival leagues more than likely will remain far apart in their perspectives on extra period play during the regular schedule.&ldquo;There is absolutely no possibility of the NHL changing its stand.&rdquo; stated NHL president Clarence Campbell, &ldquo;and there is not one thing that can make us change.&rdquo;What the situation really boils down to is NHL theory versus WHA statistics.&ldquo;A tie is a perfectly proper result of a sporting contest.&rdquo; claims Campbell. &ldquo;Balanced competition is the objective of every league. It has to be or it will not survive.&ldquo;Overtime tends to defeat the objective of balanced competition. The longer two teams play against each other, the more likely the team with the greater depth will win,&rdquo; opined the NHL president.Inequality appears to be one of the senior league&rsquo;s most pressing problems. Washington. Kansas City, Detroit. Minnesota and California are proving on most nights to be no contest for the remainder of the loop. While the Capitals and Scouts have a legitimate excuse, expansion, the others have no one to blame but themselves for their poor records and submersion in red ink.The Washington franchise would be the last to vote &lsquo;yes&rsquo; for overtime, for if it had dropped its five ties up to this point, almost one-third of its point total would be lost.The WHA. on the other hand, has 12 of its 14 teams in the thick of the battle for a playoff berth. Only Indianapolis and Baltimore, formerly the Michigan Stags, are right out of the picture.Campbell&rsquo;s theory that the team with the most depth will eventually triumph in overtime is born out by Indianapolis&rsquo; 0-3-3 won-lost-tied overtime record and Baltimore&rsquo;s 2-3-3.Campbell expresses the opinion that:.&rdquo;overtime in the regular season is not practical. The only way to eliminate tie games is to play unlimited overtime. This is only done in the playoffs when proper transportation arrangements can be made in the scheduling of games. This is not possible in an 80-game per team regular season schedule.&rdquo;It seems rather strange that the WHA can fit overtime into each team&rsquo;s 78-game slate but the NHL can&rsquo;t.Maybe the explanation is that the WHA clubs aren&rsquo;t &lsquo;tied&rsquo; up in one city for too long. It has taken an average of only approximately four and a half minutes of overtime to declare a victor so far in this campaign.The NHL&rsquo;s head administrator goes on to say that &ldquo;limited overtime (10 minutes, as in the WHA) was in effect in the NHL down to 1942. It did not accomplish any worthwhile result and did not provide a good spectacle. In the last five seasons in which 10-minute overtime was in vogue (1937-42), the overtime only provided a definite winner in 30 percent of the games tied at the end of regulation time.&rdquo;&ldquo;Such a result is not worth the effort and inconvenience.&rdquo; comments Campbell.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02748/3525774-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1195" height="982"><figcaption class="caption-body">Houston Aeros have used the overtime innovation in the WHA to stay well ahead in their division race. The defending champs have not recorded a tie decision this season.</figcaption></div>Another one of Campbell&rsquo;s beliefs is that &ldquo;overtime is bad for the teams. Since overtime is in some ways a new game, it means that even greater strain is imposed on the star players of the participating teams as they will undoub-tedly be called upon to carry the brunt of overtime play. Overtime simply takes that much more out of them, increasing the incidence of injury and shortening their playing careers.&rdquo;One of the problems which has been plaguing pro hockey is the lack of enthusiasm and drive and an over-abundance of complacency. Perhaps the thought of having to play 10-minutes of overtime would spur ail performers to put out a little extra in the regulation time period.&ldquo;Limited overtime is not good for the fans,&rdquo; states Campbell. &ldquo;Most hockey games are played at night and are scheduled so as to accommodate the convenience of spectators, many of whom are commuters or who drive substantial distances to see the contest. They naturally want to see all of the game. The additional 20 to 30 minutes required tn play overtime would make their remaining to see it either impossible or inconvenient.&ldquo;A tie on the road is considered a moral victory,&rdquo; Campbell continued, &ldquo;and experience has shown that limited overtime produced cautious, closechecking play quite unlikely to heighten the enjoyment of the spectator.&ldquo;The average fan wants to see his team win. The next best result, so far as he is concerned, is a tie game. He can always feel that with a little luck they could have have won and will do so the next time. A defeat is completely irretrievable and provides neither solace nor hope.&rdquo;According to the NHL head, &ldquo;if the home team rallies to achieve a tie in regulation time, fans go home with some satisfaction at least. If. however, overtime is played and his favorites lose, the rally is completely wasted, the fan disappointed.&ldquo;If the home team should win in overtime after a similar rally, the additional enjoyment the fans get is not sufficiently enhanced to offset the risk of a loss.&ldquo;The only time that overtime is warranted.&rdquo; Campbell summed up. &ldquo;is when the contestants have come to the real playoff stage for the final championship. Each team is in its best possible condition, the inequalities inherent in the regular season&rsquo;s schedule are no longer operative and both teams are competing under completely uniform conditions. Then overtime, and unlimited overtime should be played to determine the true winner&rdquo;.Overtime might not appeal to the NHL front office but it certainly hasn&rsquo;t hurt attendance in the WHA. It is up 48 percent over last year and 70 percent over the first year of operation.The improved calibre of play has a great influence on the ticket count but the fact that a game may take three hours certainly hasn&rsquo;t been leaving the arenas vacant.Those were the words of the great Henry Houdini before being thrown to the bottom of a lake in a padlocked trunk. Only this time one of participants might not be lucky enough to escape. &#9632;

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NHL SAYS NO WITH EQUALITY AM ONG TEAMS MAJOR DETERRENT

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-01931/3525833-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="496" height="462"></div>&bull; NEW YORK&mdash;BRAD PARK, sidelined at least three weeks as a result of strained ligaments in his left knee, didn&rsquo;t mince words when ting the blame for his injury to the constantly poor ice at Madison Square Garden. &ldquo;The ice we have to play on here is terrible. It should be the best but it&rsquo;s the worst in the league,&rdquo; the Ranger captain bitterly stated&hellip;Brad was reminded that Cat Francis often has complained about the Garden ice but to no avail&hellip;Nick Beverley, tall defenseman the Rangers acquired from Pittsburgh, looks like a real comer and Francis has been very impressed with his play&hellip;Sal Messina, former goalkeeper with the United States Olympic team, along with Marvellous Marv Albert does a great job in bringing the Rangers games to fans in the New York area over WNBC (660 on the dial). Albert, the youthful veteran, handles the play-by-play while Messina does the color&hellip;The New York Islanders are gaining a bigger share of New York fandom all the time. They are like the New York Mets of baseball&hellip;General manager Bill Torrey and coach Al Arbour have both contributed superb efforts in building up the Islanders in only their third season in the NHL to the point where they are capable of beating any of the more established teams at any time. The Islanders have a husting young team that is supplying plenty of action for their growing legion of followers&hellip;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02887/3525826-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="330" height="453"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ed Snider</figcaption></div>&bull; ATTENDANCES at the five Canadian cities in the World Hockey Association this season have been much better than planned. All five, Quebec. Toronto. Winnipeg. Edmonton and Vancouver, are ahead of last season. Out of their first 20 home games the Edmonton Oilers had seven dates when they grossed more than $70,000&hellip;New England Whalers and Houston Aeros lead the way among the U.S. clubs although the Minnesota Fighting Saints have been getting greater crowds during the last month&hellip;Dennis Ball, who joined the St. Louis Blues after 21 years in the New York Rangers&rsquo; organization. admitted that &ldquo;1 had been in New York so long I had to scrape the Rangers&rsquo; crest off to make the move&rdquo;. Ball is the vice-president of hockey operations for the Blues on a year to year basis&hellip;Hugh Harris was miffed at being traded by the Phoenix Roadrunners to Vancouver Blazers as he has just arranged for a house and was the top scorer on the Roadrunners at the time. In light of that fact, Harris has scored a goal in each of the. three meetings between his new club and the Runners, and he says he plans to continue that pace in all future games between the Blazers and Phoenix&hellip;National Hockey League players can now see themselves in action while flying from one city to another. NHL Highlights are, now being shown on selected American Airlines flights. In a recent trip. New York Ranger coach Emile Francis paid $60 for headsets for his players so they could watch Boston and Philadelphia play to a 2-2 tie&hellip;New England Whalers are averaging 9,232 people per game in their new 10.507-seat building in Hartford&hellip;Minnesota Fighting Saints&rsquo; manager Glen Sonmor on Marty Howe, the underrated defenseman of the Howe family. &ldquo;He is proving many people wrong who thought he was coming into the league on the Howe coattails&rdquo;&hellip;Ed Snider, chairman of the board of the Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers, would like to see all of the NHL teams show the players&rsquo; names on the back of their sweaters above the number. Certain clubs are against this, figuring they might lose a few program sales. Snider, incidentally, is one of the most progressive thinkers among the NHL&rsquo;s Board of Governors.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03782/3525819-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="316" height="499"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hugh Harris</figcaption></div>&bull; BUFFALO SABRES appear to be a shoo-in to &bull; capture first place in their NHL division over the Boston Bruins. The Sabres are razor-sharp this year&hellip;Jack Kelley. GM of the N.E. Whalers, has been over in Sweden trying to sign more players like Thommy and Christer Abrahamsson&hellip;Cat Francis says he is happy to have Dunc Wilson from Toronto as another experienced goalie with the Rangers. When he was told of Wilson&rsquo;s reputation, the Cat answered: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe everthing I hear, i What&rsquo;s been said about Wilson doesn&rsquo;t bother me at all&rdquo;&hellip;Goalie Yves Belanger, who broke in recently with St. Louis, is a Quebec-born lad whose boyhood idol was Glenn Hall, rather than Jacques Plante. &ldquo;I never liked Plante because 1 never liked Canadiens&rdquo;, said Belanger. &ldquo;But somehow I liked Chicago and Glenn Hall was my favorite&rdquo;&hellip;Boston players refer to Don Cherry as &ldquo;Grapes&rdquo;&hellip;Assistant general manager Lefty McFadden of the Washington Capitals will assume the administrative duties in the scouting department which Sullivan previously handled.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04680/3525812-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="349" height="447"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dunc Wilson</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0004-01

PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05550/3525888-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg"></div><h2>More Severe Penalty For Stick Users</h2>Isn&rsquo;t it time that the NHL levelled a more severe penalty on stick users? The rules state that if you spear, cut or attempt to injure another player, you get a five-minute major. That&rsquo;s understandable. But what about slashing. This is the kind of minor penalty that often leads to vicious retaliation later on in the game. A slashing penalty should be five minutes. Then those stick users would think twice. Let&rsquo;s keep that stick handling hockey pucks, not players.GARY HONEYSETT,&nbsp; Norristown, Pa.<h2>Hockey Night In America?</h2>I am writing concerning hockey and the American television media. Why is it that so few games are shown on U.S. national TV? Consider this: baseball has the Monday night baseball game plus Saturday afternoon games; basketball has games Saturday and Sunday; football has games Monday nights. Hockey is right up there with the rest of these sports, so why not treat it like a pro sport. All these other sports had national exposure for their respective All Star games but the hockey All Stars were shown only on local TV. Only during the Stanley Cup playoffs is hockey really treated like a pro game. Canada has a hockey night, so why can&rsquo;t we have one here in the States? This sport is slowly gaining popularity across the country. The big television stations should work to create new fans and keep the old ones happy.JOHN VAN DUYNE JR.,&nbsp; Boonton, N.J.<h2>Put All Rules In Black And White</h2>After Dave Schultz was suspended for one game by Clarence Campbell for continually yelling at officials during games, I checked the NHL rule book to see what the official rule stated on this matter. I could not find one. I always thought that the NHL Board of Governors had to approve any new rules for the league. If Campbell wants a rule to cut down the mouthing off at officials, he should put one in the book. Whether Dave is right or wrong is not the question. If five game misconducts constitute a one-game suspension, put it down in black and white. The NHL shouldn&rsquo;t make up rules for its whipping boy, Dave Schultz.FRED COSSENTINO,&nbsp; Upper Darby, Pa.<h2>Eagles&rsquo; MacAneeley Belongs With Seals</h2>Last season, Ted MacAneeley of the Satl Lake Eagles (CHL) was voted by his fellow players as the best defenseman on the team. In 1974-75, Ted did not qualify for the California Seals. It seems that you have to be over six feet tall to make this team. MacAneeley breaks up passes, clears the puck well and has been making super defensive plays that the big&rdquo; defensive players on the Seals cannot seem to do most of the time. If this is how the club is run. no wonder they&rsquo;re in last place.KENNETH RHODES,&nbsp; Benicia, Cal.<h2>Flyers Not Looking For Any Trouble</h2>I think that Leon Dobowolski (Fan Forum, Jan. 24) has a lot of nerve calling the Stanley Cup champions of 1973-74 &ldquo;goons&rdquo;. The Flyers do not lookfortrouble. When captain Bobby Clarke is getting bullied around, teammates Dave Schultz and Bob Kelly protect him, the hard way. This is not looking for trouble, this is teamwork. And I don&rsquo;t see how anyone can say that one team can change the entire NHL into a league of war and brutality.MARK BOUCHER,&nbsp; Deptford, N.J.<h2>Blues&rsquo; Belanger, Future Goaling Star</h2>In a recent Hockey Night in Canada game between St. Louis and Toronto, I&rsquo;m sure that many people witnessed the play of one of the great up-and-coming goalies in the NHL&mdash;Yves Belanger. Despite giving up three goals in a tying effort, Belanger played spectacularly for the Blues in his NHL debut. I was among the many fans of Yves when he played for the power-house Syracuse Blazers of 1972-73 in the old Eastern Hockey League. I was sure at that time that he would play in the big leagues and now he&rsquo;s got his chance. If St. Louis sends Belanger back to the minors, I just hope it&rsquo;s to their farm club, the Syracuse Eagles, of the AHL, and not to the Denver Spurs.PETE LEMONDES,&nbsp; Syracuse, N.Y.<h2>Stop Cutting Up Injury Riddled Leafs</h2>Three cheers for Bill Farrell of Surrey, B.C. It&rsquo;s good to hear that someone else is sticking by the Maple Leafs through their hard times. I&rsquo;m sick and tired of hockey writers cutting the Leafs down. They seem to forget that this team has probably been hit hardest by the WHA. Every time the Leafs get their rebuilding going, the WHA throws a monkey wrench into the works, and the Leafs have to start over.I think the Leaf defense would be the best in the NHL if Ley, Seiwood and Pelyk were still on the team, And even with the players they have now, the Leafs are a much better team than you critics think. But they&rsquo;ve had so many injuries that they haven&rsquo;t had a set lineup since their opening game. So. all you hockey experts, just look at the situation a little more closely before you put down the Leafs. Once the playoffs start, watch out. The Leafs have just might put a tiger in their tank.DAN OLDENBURG,&nbsp; Cheyenne, N.Y. &#9632;

f0004-05

FAN FORUM

Following are the latest player movements in hockey:<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>BOSTON&mdash;Walt McKechnie, forward, traded to Detroit in exchange for Hank Nowak and Earl Anderson, forwards. Anderson re-called from Virginia of AHL to complete deal.DETROIT&mdash;Blair Stewart, forward, assigned to Virginia of AHL.CHICAGO&mdash;Mike Veisor, goalkeeper, assigned to Dallas of CHL. Michel Dumas, goalkeeper. recalled from Dallas as backup netminder. Randy Holt, defenseman. returned to Dallas.MONTREAL&mdash;Ron Andruff, forward, recalled from Nova Scotia of AHL.N.Y. RANGERS&mdash;Dune Wilson, goalkeeper, claimed on waivers for $30,000 from Toronto Maple Leafs. Joe Zanussi, defenseman. and Hartland Monahan. forward, recalled from Providence of AHL.TORONTO&mdash;Gord McRae, goalkeeper, recalled from Oklahoma City of CHL. Pierre Hamel. goalkeeper, and Bob Sykes, forward, returned to Oklahoma City.WASHINGTON&mdash;Tony White, forward, recalled from Dayton of IHL for three games and later returned. Gord Smith, defenseman. recalled from Richmond of AHL.KANSAS CITY&mdash;Hank Lehvonen. defenseman. recalled from Port Huron of IHL as emergency replacement for Jean-Guy Lagace, who was placed on disabled list for rest of season with broken ankle, Bryan Lefley, defenseman.recalled from Providence of AHL.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Larry Goodenough, forward, and Bob by Taylor, goalkeeper, recalled I from Richmond of AHL.MINNESOTA:&mdash;Chris Ahrens, defenseman. recalled from New i Haven of AHL. Bill Plager, defenseman. Rod Norrish and Rick Chinnick, forwards, returned to New Haven. Fern Rivard, goalkeeper, recalled from New Haven as emergency replacement for Peter LoPresti, goalkeeper. who was placed on disabled list.PITTSBURGH. DennisOwchar and Bob Stump, defensemen, re called from Hershey of AHL. Ma rioFaubert. defenseman. returned to Hershey.<h2>WORLD HOCKEY ASSN.</h2>PHOENIX&mdash;Gary Lariviere, defenseman. returned to Tulsa of CHL.NEW ENGLAND&mdash;Tim Sheehy, forward, traded to Edmonton in return for Ron Climie, forward.&rsquo; Eruce Landon, goalkeeper, assigned to Cape Codders of NAHL.MINNESOTA&mdash;Billy Goldthorpe, forward, sold outright to Baltimore. Bill Butters, man, placed on active roster after jumping Oklahoma City of CHL and signing WHA contract.SAN DIEGO&mdash;Jamie Bateman, forward, recalled from Syracuse of NAHL&hellip;Tom Trevelyan, forward, sent to Syracuse as replacement.BALTIMORE&mdash;Fred Speck, forward, recalled from Syracuse of NAHL. Bob Jones, forward, sent to Syracuse as replacement.<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>OKLAHOMA CITY&mdash;Marty Feschuk, defenseman. returned to Fort Wayne of IHL. &#9632;

Movements of Players

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div>ST-LOUIS&mdash;Yves Belanger has suddenly complicated the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; goaltending picture. But the complications are very pleasant for the Blues.Belanger, enjoying a good season at Denver, was unexpectedly brought up to the parent team when the Blues shocked their fans by demoting John Davidison. who had not spent a minute previously in the minor leagues.The plan was to keep Davidson at Denver for two weeks, during which time 38-year-old Eddie Johnston would mind the net in St. Louis with Belanger his benchbound backup.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-01962/3525943-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="272" height="425"><figcaption class="caption-body">Yves Belanger</figcaption></div>Sure enough. Davidson was back with the Blues in two weeks. But by that time Belanger had been given his first chance in the National Hockey League and had made the most of it. The Blues decided to carry three goalies, at least while Davidson was mending from some stretched shoulder tendons.The St. Louis fans love Davidson, and they have come to admire the wise play ot Johnston. But Belanger has taken the town by storm.In his first NHL game he held the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 3-3 tie in Toronto. Then in his first game in St. Louis he stymied the defending Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers. 3-1. and four nights later at the Arena was a winner in a 7-1 decision over the Washington Capitals.&ldquo;I was nervous in Toronto, but I felt better after the win over the Flyers in St. Louis.&rdquo; Belanger said. &lsquo;The Flyers really buzz the net. and the whole game was an anxious moment. I was thrilled to beat them.&rdquo;Belanger knew he hadn&rsquo;t hurt his own chances for a spot on the Blues&rsquo; roster by his outstanding work in a brief trial.The 22-year-old Belanger who is older than Davidson, was realistic about his chances in the NHL when he signed with the Blues before this season after playing with the Cleveland Crusaders in the World Hockey Association. As Belanger reported to the Blues&rsquo; training camp, he knew that Davidson and Johnston were a solid tandem for 197475.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;d be three goalies in St. Louis, and I figured I&rsquo;d probably be in Denver&rdquo;, he said. &ldquo;I told myself that next year in 1975-761 would have a better chance.&rdquo;But the calendar has been revised for Belanger, who suddenly finds himself a big part of an NHL team.Belanger and Denis Dupere. who entered the Blues&rsquo; lineup about the same time, doubled the French-Canadian population of the Blues by joining Pierre Plante and Claude Larose. Dupere arrived in a trade that sent Ace Bailey and Stan Gilbertson to Wasington.Gilgertson. acquired by the Blues earlier in the season from California, had been demoted to Denver and was a throw-in in the deal. Bailey had made himself unwelcome to the Blues&rsquo; management because of clashes with coach Garry Young, and the trade was made quickly with the Caps.&ldquo;I had heard a rumor that I was going to Vancouver&rdquo;, said Dupere. &ldquo;but the Blues are a good team to come to.&rdquo;Young put Dupere in Bailey&rsquo;s old line spot on the left side of Garry Unger and Larose. Dupere has had experience at all three forward positions.The only face that Dupere recognized instantly in the St. Louis dressing room was Johnston, a teammate last year Toronto before Dupere was taken in expansion draft and E.J. was traded Gary Sabourin.&ldquo;Denis used to come in and take the draw in a lot of key situations for the Leafs&rdquo;, said Johnston. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s one the best in the league at faceoffs&mdash;rig up with Mikita. I know he&rsquo;ll help I a lot.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0006-01

Belanger’s Goaling Complicates Picture As Rookie Crowds Blues’ Two Regulars

<div class="byline">&#x2014;By Bill Libby</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-01951/3525988-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="303" height="355"></div><h2>The Two-Goalie System</h2>THEY HAVE SHARED the Ranger nets and shared a room on the road. Rivals for regular work, Ed Giacomin and Gilles Villemure have remained friendly. They do not choose who goes out on the ice to play and who sits on the bench. If they did, each would choose to play. But Emile Francis chooses. Usually &ldquo;The Cat&rdquo;.coach and manager, has chosen Giacomin. Now Villemure plays. Dunc Wilson backs him up and Giacomin sits, injured.Before major league teams went to a two-goalie system and expansion opened up opportunities, both were buried in the minors. Giacomin spent six seasons at Providence. Villemure eight seasons at Vancouver, Buffalo and Baltimore when those were minor-league towns. Since the era of the rushing defenseman was ushered in and scoring rose, few want to be goaltenders, and few good ones are arriving. The good veterans such as Giacomin and Villemure are lasting longer.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02852/3525981-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="263" height="480"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ed Giacomin</figcaption></div>Giacomin made it to the majors first and for his first five years in a Ranger iniform he played almost all the games. Then Villemure moved up, and for the last four years played part of the time. Giacomin usually plays 45 games or so a season, Villemure 35 or so. But come the playoffs. The Cat&rsquo;s sentiments come clear. Giacomin usually plays all of almost all playoff games. Villemure may get into one or two. Clearly, The Cat has considered Giacomin his clutch goaler, much as he may have denied it.Their styles are dissimilar. Giacomin is bigger and bolder. Nicknamed &ldquo;Fast Eddie,&rdquo; he flits in and out of the nets, scrmbling around the ice an in the crease. He is daring. He makes acrobatic saves. He is exciting to see. Villemure is smaller and more conservative. He keeps in his cage. He stands up, playing the angles, making hard saves look easy. When he doesn&rsquo;t make the save, he looks bad, as if wasn&rsquo;t trying. He is dull, rather than daring.EARLY LAST season, Gilles suffered a severe knee injury which sidelined him most of the rest of the season. He had got off to a bad start, got into only 21 games and wound up bad record. Giacomin performed as an iron man most of the season and started all of the 13 playoff contests. Villemure wasn&rsquo;t satisfied with the contract he received for this season and fought Francis on it. Early this season, he twice quit the team and he almost was traded before he settled back in.Early this season, Giacomin was playing and the team was struggling. Although 35, the veteran refused to alibi on the basis of age. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not playing good right now. but I feel as good as ever,&rdquo; he told us. &ldquo;Another playoff failure and I guess Francis felt he had to make some changes so some ofthe old guys are gone and there&rsquo;s some new guys we have to break into our game. Maybe I&rsquo;m not getting as much help from the team as 1 have in the past, but then again maybe I&rsquo;m not helping the team as much as I have.&rdquo;Greying, agreeable, articulate, he shrugged and said, &ldquo;Life never goes the way you want it to, but it&rsquo;s not such a bad life. The only bad thing about life right now is the way the people in New York are treating us. The Rangers haven&rsquo;t won a Stanley Cup in about 35 years. We may have been good enough to win it once or twice in recent years, but we didn&rsquo;t and everyone is disappointed in us. We tried our best. Maybe we weren&rsquo;t the best. Maybe we&rsquo;ll win it this season. But being booed and ridiculed won&rsquo;t boost us. Around New York the atmosphere around hockey is depressed right now, and it&rsquo;s depressing.&rdquo;He shrugged again. &ldquo;Otherwise. I don&rsquo;t complain,&rdquo; he said, smiling. &ldquo;Every little boy dreams of making the majors. My dream came true. When a kid grows up without much, making good money and travelling and living first class is a treat. I guess some are spoiled by success. Maybe it doesn&rsquo;t mean much to some after awhile. But it still seems special to me. I still love to travel. Expansion brought in new cities to see. We spent four days in Los Angeles and I went to Tijuana. Maybe it&rsquo;s not the best side of Mexico, but it&rsquo;s something else. In Oakland. I visited Jack London Square. It was something to see.&rdquo;Their records are roughly comparable. Actually Villemure&rsquo;s statistics are slightly superior so he has a case he could take to court. The playoff failures of the Rangers are famous. Villemure might have merited a chance to show he could have made a difference, though it is ridiculous to blame Giacomin. The goaltending has been good, but the ultimate triumphs elusive.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03713/3525974-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="268" height="479"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gilles Villemure</figcaption></div>VILLEMURE MAY have had much of his minor league career in Vancouver, but Giacomin never had seen Western Canada. So last summer the veteran from Sudbury took his wife. Margaret, sons Mark and David, and daughter Nancy on a two-month motor-home tour from New York to Yellowstone National Park, up to British Columbia and back home. &ldquo;It was terrific&rdquo; he enthused. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a family fellow. I spend as much time as I can with my family during the season and 1 spend all of the off-season with them to make up for what I&rsquo;ve missed.&ldquo;Maybe when I retire 1&rsquo;11 get more time with my family, but 1 don&rsquo;t even want to think about when I might quit. 1&rsquo;11 miss it too much. I&rsquo;m still strong. The more I play, the more I want to play. I&rsquo;m durable. I haven&rsquo;t been hurt much. 1 hope my luck holds up,&rdquo; he said.It did not. He hurt his knee in mid-December. just as Villemure did the previous December. He also was bothered by a bad back. Recently Eddie returned, but Gilles was playing so well and the Rangers were doing so well that Giacomin wasn&rsquo;t getting to play. &ldquo;I guess it was my turn.&rdquo; Eddie said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad Gilles is going great, really. I&rsquo;m a little down, and personally, but 1 can&rsquo;t complain. Am I thinking of quitting? Oh, hell no. That day still hasn&rsquo;t dawned yet.&rdquo;Giacomin got his games, but was blasted. His knee and back bothered him so badly he couldn&rsquo;t perform properly. Worried. The Cat went to the waiver list to pick up Dunc Wilson to back up Villemure.Hockey is less Villemure&rsquo;s life, but at 33 he is two years younger than Giacomin and he temporarily at least is the goaler the Rangers lean on as they go through the stretch toward the playoffs. Villemure grew up around race tracks in Quebec. He owns, trains and drives harness-horses in his off-time. Before this season he threatened to retire from hockey to run his horses full time. Now he says, &ldquo;It is something I like to do that 1 can do when I retire, but it still seems to be an off-season thing for now.&rdquo; Now he is smiling more than he used to. &ldquo;I am a lot happier about my hockey life than I was a little while ago, but I will wait to see what happens,&rdquo; he says.He has. of course, been disappointed before. &#9632;

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div>CHICAGO&mdash;One hesitates from calling this the fork in the road for Dale Tallon. but neither will games from February to April be nothing affairs for the Black Hawks&rsquo; oft-jinxed start to be.The big guy is back from Dallas, which is a nice place to visit but a National Hockey Leaguer wouldn&rsquo;t want to live there. Tallon spent the first two weeks in February there honing skills after a serious hip dislocation incurred last November&mdash;just one of several misfortunes which have bedeviled him since his acquisition, midst much pomp and circumstance, by Chicago in May of 1973.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04444/3526019-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg" title="f0008-04" width="281" height="462"><figcaption class="caption-body">Michel Dumas</figcaption></div>The net result of this malaise is that Tallon has not yet become the player he was supposed to be here, or more importantly. the player he dearly wants to be.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s vital to my confidence&hellip;vital to my whole future that I put on some kind of spurt from now until the end of the season.&rdquo; said Tallon upon his return to the varsity Feb. 10. &ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s been great to me here, and I feel I&rsquo;m letting them down in a way. I&rsquo;m getting a good buck here, and 1 just want to earn it.&ldquo;I had hoped that this would be my year, finally, but I keep running into one thing or another. I don&rsquo;t know how things are going to turn out. but 1 don&rsquo;t want to be a fringe player in this league. If I can&rsquo;t play up to the level I can play, then I&rsquo;II do somethingelse fora living.&rdquo;Tallon&rsquo;s best year was his first with the Vancouver Canucks, who plucked him off the vine in 1970 just after Buffalo grabbed Gil Perreault. They were rated 1-2 or 2-1 among graduating amateur nuggets.Tallon tired of the Vancouver scene, where he played a different place each night but was always close enough to witness the weekly front office insurrection of what then was a comical franchise. He wanted out, and got Chicago.Come the end of January, he got Dallas.&ldquo;It was a blow to my pride, going to the minors for the first time,&rdquo; said Tallon. &ldquo;Lots of things enter your mind. But it was great for me. I&rsquo;ve got my confidence back, and I&rsquo;m in fairly good shape.&rdquo;&ldquo;I played 35 to 40 minutes a night. It was all defense, but I carried the puck a lot and scored a few points (one goal. four assists, five points in seven games). I was sort of an &lsquo;offenseman&rsquo;. No, not like Bobby Orr. There&rsquo;s only one Orr.&ldquo;I took a couple of jolts on the hip. and there was no problem. But I still worry that the doctor says the circulation of blood to that joint might not be right, and it might not show up for six months or two years.&ldquo;But there was no problem down there. A first class operation. The hockey is good, though you can sneak a little rest once in a while during a shift. In the NHL. you have to be alert every minute.&rdquo;And Tallon will be doubly alert from now on, for now is the time. He&rsquo;s talented and young (24). But if somehow, some way things don&rsquo;t workout, the big guy can really hit a golf ball.&ldquo;Played a couple of rounds in Dallas,&rdquo; said Tallon. &ldquo;And the hip was OK. Shot a 64. But on the course I played. Johnny Miller would have had a 34.&rdquo;PARTING SHOTS: The troubled Hawks suffered one of their most humiliating defeats in history, a 12-3 drubbing at Montreal Feb. 15. Mike Veisor was in the nets for all dozen, and the next day he was shipped to Dallas. Brought up in his place was Michel Dumas, who has already signed with the World Hockey Association&hellip;Hawks also sent down defenseman Randy Holt, who coach Billy Reay tried a few shifts on right wing during his tour with the varsity&hellip;Tony Esposito got into a fight at Philadelphia Feb. 13. which tells you something about his faint-hearted teammates. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think that would ever happen here.&rdquo; said Flyer captain Bobby Clarke. &#9632;

f0008-04

Stint With Dallas Regains Tallon’s Confidence, Shape

<div class="byline">BY CHRIS ZELKOVICH</div>MONTREAL&mdash;The Montreal Canadiens have shown a lot of virtues this year, but respect is certainly not among them. Here&rsquo;s the situation: the Canadiens have just lost their best player. Guy Lafleur, for a month with a broken finger. That means a month without the league&rsquo;s second most proficient goal scorerand possibly the league&rsquo;s most valuable player.So what do the Canadiens do? Go on an extended losing streak to prove Lalleur&rsquo;s worth to the team? Fall apart at the seams? No, the Canadiens crassly venture forth and in their first game without Lafleur struggle to a 12-3 victory over the Chicago Black Hawks. One night later they beat the Hawks 6-3 to give them 18 goals in two games. Lafleur. it appears, don&rsquo;t get no respect.While the Canadiens didn&rsquo;t show any respect in ignoring the obvious gravity of Lafleur&rsquo;s absence, they did show something else&mdash;depth. Ah yes, and they also showed Yvan Cournoyer.But first, the injury. It&rsquo;s Feb. 12 and the Canadiens are playing the Maple Leafs in Toronto. Early in the third period. with the score tied 2-2. Lafleur is skating out of the Canadiens&rsquo; zone when Leafs&rsquo; Darryl Sittier knocks the stick out of his hand with a two-handed slash. Lafleur&rsquo;s left hand goes numb and he leaves the game to learn that his left index finger was broken near the knuckle.At first it appears Lafleur might miss only two weeks, but that is later changed to a month. Barring complications Lafleur should return in mid-March after missing 12 to 15 games, which might be enough inactivity to keep him from scoring 50 goals this year.Ironically, the injury came two periods after Lafleur had tied the Canadiens&rsquo; record for most points in one season with his 96th point of the year.The Canadiens wanted someone to pick up the slack and they got Cournoyer, who not only picked it up but carried it and the team for the weekend. He started Feb. 15 with an unbelievable five-goal barrage against Mike Veisorin the 12-3 victory over Chicago. That game showcased a vintage Coumoyer,. a Cournoyer the Montreal fans have not seen this year. He was at his roadrunning best that night, darting about the ice like a bug on a pond, scoring goals and luring the Hawks into penalties. He was almost as effective the next night in Chicago although he managed only one goal.The five-goal game put Coumoyer in the Canadiens&rdquo; record book alongside Maurice Richard and Bobby Rousseau. The seven points he accumulated were one shy of the league record of eight, held by Richard and Bert Olmstead.&ldquo;You know, the biggest thrill for me was the way the fans reacted,&rdquo; Cournoyer said. &ldquo;And the funniest thing was when I was on the shorthanded team in a three against five situation. That&rsquo;s the first time since I started playing hockey that I&rsquo;ve done that.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s what kind of night and weekend it was for the Canadiens and although it&rsquo;s obvious the team has enough depth to avoid a complete collpase without Lafleur things aren&rsquo;t expected to continue this successfully. But then again, if Coumoyer continues his hot streak&hellip;well, who knows? &#9632;

Speedy Cournoyer Picks Up Scoring Slack

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BY BILL MAKI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-01921/3526074-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">&ldquo;Nervous, Fellas?&rdquo;</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0009-01

CARTOON CORNER

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div>NEW YORK&mdash;&ldquo;Rocky&rsquo;s pass was right on the money&rdquo;, said Steve Vickers. &ldquo;All had to do was put it in the net.&rdquo;Vickers, the Rangers All Star left wing was talking about a goalmouth transfer that | Gilbert had given i him during the course of a 4-4 tie with the Califormia Seals. Earlier in the same ga-. me Gilbert had set up Jean Ratelie with another pass in the slot during a power-play situation. And he had scored himself on a rising shot from the left faceoff circle which eluded the talented young Seal netminder Gilles Meloche.&ldquo;Gilbert is playing better that ever,&rdquo; says Emile Francis, the New York general manager-coach. &ldquo;He is a better checker today than he was ten years ago. He goes into the corners better&mdash;and varies his play more. And he still gets his shots and can make the power play pay off. He is 33 but still plays with the enthusiasm of a boy.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-01941/3526105-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="282" height="446"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rod Gilbert</figcaption></div>Rodrigue Gilbert still has that pink cheeked look of the handsome young matinee idol. He doesn&rsquo;t quite have the bloom of youth in his cheeks, but he still is very good looking.One of hockey&rsquo;s most eligible bachelors, Gilbert took the fatal plunge and married Judy Preston of Talahasse, Florida, last spring immediately-after the Rangers semi-final defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers. Brad Park was one of the ushers in the Las Vegas, Nevada, wedding.The Jean Ratelie&mdash;Rod Gilbert&mdash;Steve Vickers line has taken the place of the Rangers GAG Line which had Ratty and Rod working with long time friend and partner Vic Hadfield. Hadfield, at a salary of $175,000 per annum, fell out of favor with Francis last year and was traded to Pittsburgh for Nick Beverley. At first, despite the fact that Hadfield was playing on less than sound wheels in 1973-74, was no longer the crashing corner man because of a bad shoulder and couldn&rsquo;t fight because of bad thumbs, the Gag Line was not scoring.&ldquo;We tried Greg Polis, but Gregdidn&rsquo;t fit our style&rdquo;, said Rod. &ldquo;1 went to Emile and suggested he try Vickers. 1 could see he would fit with us. He plays it like Vic in front of the net, tough, and can put the puck in. And I could see that he stayed on his wing and didn&rsquo;t wander like Polis did. 1 don&rsquo;t know if it did any good, but eventually a couple of weeks later Francis put Vickers with Ratty and me.&rdquo;Before that happened there were trade rumors abounding almost daily in New York which had Ratelle. also making the same $175,000 that Hadfield and Gilbert make, as trade bait.&ldquo;Ratelle is not for sale or trade,&rdquo; said Francis.But in a game against Philadelphia in the Spectrum the Cat benched Ratelie and broke up the Gag Line. It wasn&rsquo;t until about three weeks later that Vickers was placed with the long time Montreal ice lot pals and the line revived.Strangley in all the early season furor, no one said anything about dumping Gilbert. Ratelle, at 34, was only one year older, and was an exemplory family man, who stayed at home nights. Still, Ratty wasn&rsquo;t producing and Rod was having some trouble, but still getting his share of points.Gilbert, feeling for his long time friend, kept digging and working harder than ever before. When Vickers was added to the line it went on a two mont tear and both Steve and Rod made the mid-season All Star game. Vickers being voted by the media and Rod added by Flyers&rsquo; coach Fred Shero.&ldquo;I think Ratelle should be here, too,&rdquo; said Brad Park, the Rangers&rsquo; captain. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the center that makes the line tick.&rdquo;When Gilbert broke the 800 mark in points in December he responded with a typical remark.&ldquo;The milestone does n&rsquo;t matter to me. It helped the team get two more points. We are moving up. I won&rsquo;t be satisfied until we win the Stanley Cup.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0010-01

Gilbert, Vickers Put Teeth In New York Offense

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02785/3526136-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Here&rsquo;s hockey expert Howie Meeker in action with kids</figcaption></div>TORONTO&mdash;For many years now, hockey coaches and players alike have needed films that demonstrate the fundamentals of hockey. It appears Howie Meeker and the CBC have finally put the package together to meet the pressing demand.Meeker and a group of hockey players between the ages of nine and 13 are featured in a series of films, each 11 minutes long, demonstrating the basics of hockey. They are absolutely the finest series of its kind showing young boys learning all the skating moves as well as control and passing. Many have already seen some of these films on television, but they&rsquo;re now available at many public lobraries and school boards.The CBC, which has produced these films, has used every film making technique including slow motion and stop action to illustrate balance, posture and shifting of weight in the instructional movies, which are being distributed by Viking Films.Here&rsquo;s a great opportunity for librarians who are interested in serving coaches and young players in their community. Four of the 25 films are available for preview from Viking Films to interested librarians. Viking is located in Markham, Ont., at-525 Denison Street. &#9632;

f0010-02

Meeker, CBC Collaborate On Hockey Training Films

<div class="byline">BY HARRY KLAFF</div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;There were a couple of minutes left in what would be a N.Y. Islander victory at the Nassau Coliseum a few weeks ago. when the &ldquo;Three Stars&rdquo; panel reached a stalemate in their selection for the third star.&ldquo;How about Westfall?&rdquo; said one. &ldquo;He had an assist and killed penalties.&rdquo;&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; retorted a second member. &ldquo;Drouin had another super night on faceoffs.&rdquo;&ldquo;Hey, wait a minute.&rdquo; piped a third. &ldquo;Why not Dave Lewis? He&rsquo;s been playing solid hockey for weeks, and stopped a couple of shots and hit some people tonight.&rdquo;&ldquo;Right!&rdquo; erupted the three voices in unison, and defenseman David Lewis of Kindersley, Sask, was chosen the third star of the game.That&rsquo;s the way that things go for the 21-year-old Islander sophomore. He is every bit as instrumental for the Isles&rsquo; having one of the best goals-against averages in the league as Denis Potvin, Gerry Hart, and Bert Marshall. It&rsquo;s just that few fans&mdash;or star selectors, for that matter&mdash;know he&rsquo;s there.Dave was the Islanders&rsquo; number two pick in the I973 amateur draft (after Denis Potvin, of course), and the 33rd player selected overall. He was considered a &ldquo;future&rdquo; by the New York brass, but he did so well in training camp that he was promoted to the varsity in his first pro season.Teamed with veteran Bert Marshall from the outset. Big Lewie (6&rsquo;2&rdquo;. 205 lbs.) turned in a fine rookie campaign, winning a new watch as an Islander player of the month along the way. He also made headlines early in the semester when he floored Orland Kurtenbach, then with Vancouver, with one punch.Dave&rsquo;s education has continued this season. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m more consistent now, especially in our own end,&rdquo; says Lewie. &ldquo;The big thing is that I&rsquo;m making sure of my passes. There were times last year that I was a little sloppy.&ldquo;Also I&rsquo;m more careful on my bodychecking. I probably hit harder last year, but by lining them up, I would miss a few as well, and the guy would go right by. You have to play the individual, and you can&rsquo;t get carried away.&rdquo;As might be expected, Lewis credits partner Marshall with his quick development. In addition to serving on Dave&rsquo;s right side at the blueline. Bert is also his tutor, roommate and psychologist.&ldquo;Bert&rsquo;s always talking to me out there, telling me little hints. And he doesn&rsquo;t stop when we get back to the hotel,&rdquo; says Dave. &ldquo;And sometimes he talks in sort of riddles. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll never come right out and say &lsquo;Are you ready for this one?&rsquo; He&rsquo;d start it off with. &lsquo;Well, what were you doing last night?&rsquo; This makes me relax and takes some of the pressure off.&rdquo;Dave feels that he has made considerable progress in his defensive play, but must improve himself at the other end of the rink. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to work on my offensive game,&rdquo; he admits. &ldquo;I get my shots, but I miss them; 1 don&rsquo;t seem to get them up. Also sometimes I&rsquo;m afraid to go in deep to take advantage of an opportunity in fear that I&rsquo;d get caught up-ice. Maybe I&rsquo;ve been worrying too much about making mistakes.&rdquo;Lewis is scoring at roughly the same pace of his rookie year. He finished with two goals and 15 assists as a rookie. compared with five goals and 10 assists through 56 games this season.Like the rest of the kids on the Islanders. Big Lewie is tickled pink over the club&rsquo;s chances for a playoff berth this year &ldquo;True, there&rsquo;s more pressure this season, but when you&rsquo;re winning, it&rsquo;s a lot more fun. This will be a good team for a long time.&rdquo;Dave has an additional responsibility this season, acting as a &ldquo;Big Brother&rdquo; himself&mdash;for freshman center Bob Bourne. &ldquo;Bob is also from Kindersley, and I&rsquo;ve been trying to guide him along a bit,&rdquo; says Lewis. &ldquo;Last year Bert helped me a great deal; now I&rsquo;m trying to do the same for Bob.&rdquo;With Marshall the &ldquo;old man&rdquo; of the Islander backline at age 31. New York fans hope to see a Vezina or two in the decade to come. Then Big Lewie might get a more frequent nod from the panel.ISLAND SOUNDS: The Islanders have been putting the puck in the net, but they haven&rsquo;t been counting. On Feb. 11, Bill Harris appeared to give the Islanders an insurance goal late in the third period. But referee Bryan Lewis ruled that the net had become dislodged before the puck went in. The video tape replay revealed that Lewis goofed. Four nights later Jude Drouin beat Philly&rsquo;s Bernie Parent on a pass from Harris, but ref Wally Harris caught the Islander for a hand pass. This time the tape sustained the judgement&hellip;Through 56 games, the Islanders had the best penalty-killing average in the league (13.4)&hellip;The Isles are about 20 points ahead of their &lsquo;73-&rsquo;74 pace&hellip;Ed Westfall outdrew Bobby Clarke 8-4 the last time the Flyers visited the Coliseum.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03617/3526205-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="561" height="715"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE LEWIS&hellip;Learning Fast</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0012-03

Islanders’ ‘Big Lewie’ Rates Rave Reviews For Solid Ice Play

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01912/3526174-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"></div><h2>Another Habitant Dynasty</h2>AROUND THE National Hockey League these days, there&rsquo;s a sneaking suspicion that in his office in the bowels of the Montreal Forum. Sam Pollock is concocting another dynasty, a Canadiens team which will show the NHL how it&rsquo;s done for the next few years.Of course, no one is conceding the 1975 Stanley Cup to the Canadiens because the Philadelphia Flyers aren&rsquo;t likely to give it up without a fight, the Los Angeles Kings are a tough out for everyone, the Buffalo Sabres just refuse to slump and as long as the Boston Bruins have Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito, they&rsquo;re a contender. And despite some woe this season, the Chicago Black Hawks basically are a sound team.But from a pure talent standpoint, the Canadiens are at the top. One NHL general manager claimed that the best young talent in the league is in the possession of the Habitants with Buffalo not far behind and the New York Islanders rating high in big, strong youngsters.A dissection of the Canadiens&rsquo; roster reveals features which aren&rsquo;t likely to encourage easy sleep among opponents.Of the 20 players on the Canadiens basic roster, nine are 24 years and under, seven are from 25 to 30 years and only four are 31 or older. Of the quartet in the senior citizen category. Henri Richard has missed most of the season with a broke ankle; Jim Roberts and Glenn Sather are utility players. Only Don Aw&rsquo;rey, 31, is in the &ldquo;key&rdquo; category.In addition, the Canadiens have several kids&mdash;Glenn Goldup, Rick Chartraw, John Van Boxmeer and Peter Sullivan&mdash;in their system who could play for assorted NHL teams.Several lads in the 24-and-under class are certain stars. Guy Lafleur is there already and defenseman Larry Robinson is knocking on the star-room door. Steve Shutt, Yvon Lambert and goalie Michel Larocque aren&rsquo;t far behind. Rookies Mario Tremblay and Doug Risebrough are playing regularly which demonstrates their potential. The Canadiens seldom insert boys fresh from junior hockey into the regular rotation.A strong indicator of how the Canadien talent-cup overflows is the fact that goalie Wayne Thomas hasn&rsquo;t played this season. In 1973-74, Thomas had a 2.76 goals-against average in 42 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02787/3526167-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="579" height="728"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pete Mahovlich</figcaption></div><h2>Big Pete Steps Forward</h2>AN IMPORTANT CANADIEN this season is big center Peter Mahovlich, who isn&rsquo;t that far from being the best all-round pivot in the league this season. Not that Mahovlich was an empty sweater before this season. He&rsquo;s scored 127 goals for the Canadiens in the past four schedules and killed penalties as well as anyone in the game.This season, he&rsquo;s been among the NHL&rsquo;s leading scorers, a strong man on the potent line with wingers Lafleur and Shutt. Mahovlich doesn&rsquo;t feel that his play or contribution to the Canadiens&rsquo; cause is that much greater this season.&ldquo;People place too much emphasis on points in gauging the calibre of seasons players are having.&rdquo; Mahovlich said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think that I&rsquo;ve contributed that much more to the team this season.&ldquo;My situation has changed somewhat. In the past, I worked a great deal on the penalty-killing unit and that cuts down on a player&rsquo;s potential to get a big point total. But in the team picture, it&rsquo;s a mighty important function. Stop the other team&rsquo;s power play and it means just as much as scoring a goal.&ldquo;This season, though. I&rsquo;m not killing penalties very often and I play on every power play. That increases my potential for points considerably. When I&rsquo;m not killing most penalties, my on-ice offensive time increases as much as six minutes per game.&rdquo;Mahovlich also points out with much emphasis that the fastest way for any player to boost his point output is to share a line with Lafleur, one of the NHL&rsquo;s biggest stars this season until he broke a finger in a mid-February game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.&ldquo;I think more than a few people would agree with me that Lafleur is the best player in the NHL right now.&rdquo; Mahovlich said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s doing it all&mdash;scoring, making plays, forechecking, back-checking and playing aggressively.&ldquo;On the other wing, Shutt has really arrived as a good NHL player. He&rsquo;s carrying the puck much more now and playing with confidence.&rdquo;Defenseman Jim Schoenfeld of the Buffalo Sabres claims there are others, just about anyone in fact, who he likes to have as residents in his team&rsquo;s zone.&ldquo;When Lafleur and Mahovlich have possession of the puck in your zone, they&rsquo;re the toughest to get it away from,&rdquo; Schoenfeld said. &ldquo;And when you have it there, they are the most difficult to keep it away from!&rdquo;MAHOVLICH LISTS ASSORTED features for the Canadiens&rsquo; strong season, which includes a 21-game unbeaten streak and a record for consecutive undefeated games on the road. He pointed out (a) the trade which added veteran defenseman Don Awrey and filled a big hole left by the injury-induced exit of Jacques Laperriere; (b) the return of Ken Dryden and his joining Bunny Larocque to supply excellent goaltending; (c) a new atmosphere around the team and a much improved relationship between coach Scotty Bowman and the players.In the past, an NHL joke claimed that everything was normal in Montreal and the Canadiens were set to win as long as at least one player was questioning Bowman&rsquo;s intelligence.&ldquo;Early in the season, we had a few meetings and really ironed out the differences between a few players and management,&rdquo; Mahovlich said.&ldquo;The atmosphere in our dressing room is excellent now. I feel Scotty has changed his approach a little. He&rsquo;s come down to the players&rsquo; level much more and the player-coach communication has improved considerably.&rdquo;The Canadiens are the NHL&rsquo;s top offensive team but Mahovlich feels their strength is in defensive play.&ldquo;How well we do is related directly to how we play defensively,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Sure, some nights we have the attack to overpower teams but over the long haul, it&rsquo;s defensive hockey than wins, playing a tight, controlled game and waiting for the scoring chances. We beat the Philly Flyers, 6-0, a few weeks ago with that sort of game. We just didn&rsquo;t give them any scoring chances and before long we got breaks which we cashed in.&ldquo;For some reason, though, against the Buffalo Sabres, we open the game and get into shooting matches with them. They beat us, 7-6 and 7-5, in Montreal. Great hockey for the spectators but nightmares to lose.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0012-01

FRANK ORR SAYS

<div class="byline">BY RUSS WHITE</div>WASHINGTON&mdash;The Capitals, 6-47-5. have put together three straight home victories and are 2-2 since George (Red) Sullivan has moved from chief scout to coach. Although the players are scarred and looking to next year. they have not quit.&ldquo;There really isn&rsquo;t much pressure on us,&rdquo; said goaltender Ron Low after he recorded the team&rsquo;s first shutout, a 3-0 home victory last week over the Kansas City Scouts.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01887/3526243-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="270" height="460"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Low</figcaption></div>Yvon Labre, the team&rsquo;s hard-trying defenseman. might argue with that.&ldquo;We owe our fans and ourselves to make everything we can of what is left,&rdquo; Labre said. A minor leaguer last year at Hershey, Labre appreciates the life he has in the big leagues despite the frustrations of being with an expansion team.At Hershey he played for a league champion but he can remember the boos more than the cheers. &ldquo;Up here,&rdquo; Labre said, &ldquo;all we hear are cheers. Sometimes I wonder if this is all real&rdquo;.Fortunately for Labre and his teammates, the cheers in Washington are as real as the team&rsquo;s first win over its expansion twin, the Scouts. Over 14.000 paid to see the game and the Caps&rsquo; average attendance is now at five figures.What the club is aiming for now is a good enough finish to prompt some season ticket buying for next year. There were 6,800 season tickets sold for year one and most of the people have been patient. Game day sales are up surprisingly.Labre, for one, has become a favorite at Capital Centre because he constantly gives it all he has. He was named to a Philadelphia newspaper&rsquo;s &ldquo;hardest tryers&rdquo; team recently. On such a team he might well qualify for the captaincy.Low credited Labre with helping him achieve the shutout over KC. &ldquo;Yvon was always around to help, clearing the puck and getting it down ice.&rdquo; Low said. &ldquo;The wings were backchecking the defensemen never let them get a second chance.&rdquo;Shutout hockey by the Caps so soon after another of their road disasters&mdash;the night before they fell 7-1 at St. Louis for their 30th straight road defeat&mdash;is difficult to explain. &ldquo;I wish 1 had an answer,&rdquo; said Low, who gave up five goals in nine minutes one night, none in 60 the next.General manager Milt Schmidt replaced Jimmy Anderson with Sullivan as coach after making the third major deal for the team in three weeks and so far his trade with the St. Louis Blues looks good. &ldquo;Maybe,&rdquo; Schmidt was wishing aloud, &ldquo;it&rsquo;ll be like the Esposito trade the Bruins made.&rdquo;Ace Bailey and Stan Gilbertson joined the Capitals as Denis Dupere went to St. Louis. Dupere was disappointed that he could not stay around Washington long enough to see the Caps get better. He felt the club&rsquo;s management failed to appreciate his talents&mdash;he led the team with 20 goals.&ldquo;Denis is sadly mistaken.&rdquo; Schmidt said. &ldquo;We did appreciate what Denis did for us and he should be flattered that the team made as good a deal for him as we were able to. Bailey and Gilbertson are solid players.&rdquo;The newcomers Bailey and Gilbertson both had goals in the 3-0 win over the Scouts. Bailey, in his first game as a Cap, had three assists in a 7-4 victory over the New York Rangers. The Ranger and Scout wins represented the first time Washington had won two games in a given month. They were one for October, one for November, one for December and one for January but two for February.Sullivan was doggedly determined to see the Caps gain 31 points to beat the first year low point record that the New York Islanders had three years ago. Kansas City, which won its first three from Washington, has already accumulated 33. The Caps, with only 17, have a long way to go. Apparently they haven&rsquo;t stopped trying, though.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02770/3526236-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="563" height="476"><figcaption class="caption-body">YVON LABRE&hellip;Caps&rsquo; Hardest Tryer</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0013-01

Scarred Players Still Haven’t Quit Working

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01896/3526274-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="561" height="780"><figcaption class="caption-body">BLAINE STOUGHTON&hellip;Problems Adjusting</figcaption></div>TORONTO&mdash;Perhaps the strangest happening in the weird season of the Toronto Maple Leafs was the overwhelming desire of winger Rick Kehoe to escape from the team.Kehoe was a young player of immense potential who scored 33 goals in 1972-73. his first full National Hockey League season, and added 18 last season. a slightly off year.However, Kehoe claimed he wasn&rsquo;t happy in Toronto and wanted to be traded away by the Leafs. He didn&rsquo;t really outline any definite reasons, just that he felt he could play better away from the Leafs.The Leafs peddled Kehoe to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for winger Blaine Stoughton and those old reliable future considerations, which in this case turned out to be a first-round selection in the amateur draft.The Leaf fans were puzzled by the trade because they felt Kehoe was a future star, and they wanted to know &ldquo;Blaine who?&rdquo;Lately, they&rsquo;ve found out. Stoughton was a spot player through much of the season but when handed a regular assignment in mid-January, he delivered some excellent hockey.At the 55-game mark. Stoughton had scored 14 goals while Kehoe had 18 for Pittsburgh. Working on a forward line with center Dave Keon and right winger Inge Hammarstrom, Stoughton demonstrated the great potential he displayed in junior hockey with Flin Flon Bombers.&ldquo;We knew Stoughton had all the essentials to be a good NHL player,&rdquo; said Leaf coach Red Kelly. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good, fast skater, has a good shot, knows how to check and is aggressive. It appears that he just needed some time to get it together and fit into our team.&rdquo;Stoughton was the Penguins&rsquo; first-round choice in the 1973 amateur draft. In four junior seasons with Flin Flon, he had produced 163 goals and 170 assists.&ldquo;My fourth junior season was a bit of a waste for me,&rdquo; Stoughton said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d had a really good year in &lsquo;71-72 and I felt I was ready for pro hockey. I&rsquo;d scored 60 goals and played a great deal.&ldquo;I did have some talks with Los Angeles Sharks of the World Hockey Association about turning pro but went back to junior. The &lsquo;72-73 season was quite boring for me and I didn&rsquo;t play that well, at least I didn&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;d played as well as the year before.&rdquo;Stoughton did construct a 58-60-118 point total which hardly indicates complete indifference to the game.Stoughton had an ordinary rookie pro season, divided between the Penguins and their American League farm team, the Hershey Bears. He had five goals in 34 games with the Penguins and 23 scores in 43 AHL contests at Hershey.&ldquo;I really had problems adjusting to the pace of the NHL,&rdquo; Stoughton said. &ldquo;In my final two seasons of junior hockey, I played 35 to 40 minutes per game, sometimes more. That meant I had to save my energy a little.&ldquo;In the NHL, players go on the ice for a short shift, say a minute long, go as hard as they can, then get off. I found myself taking it easy too often as if I had to play 40 minutes. I was saving energy when 1 should have been skating hard. It sounds like a simple thing but when you&rsquo;ve played one way for two seasons, it&rsquo;s not that easy to change.&rdquo;Then, too, Stoughton had to adjust to the Leaf style of play and find regular work.&ldquo;Playing with Keon and Hammarstrom has been a good break,&rdquo; Stoughton added. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s important to play with the same linemates over an extended period of time.&rsquo;LEAF NOTES: Handed the No. 1 Leaf goaltending job with the suspension of Dune Wilson, Doug Favell played strongly. His best effort was in a 2-2 Leaf tie with the Montreal Canadiens in Toronto&hellip;The Leafs were unable to arrange a trade for Wilson and placed him on waivers. Wilson was claimed by the New York Rangers&hellip;That move placed the Leafs in a vulnerable position if Favell were injured. The team returned rookie pro Pierre Hamel to Oklahoma City farm team in the Central League and called up Gord McRae, who&rsquo;s had a very ordinary season, as back up to Favell. &#9632;

f0014-01

Stoughton Living Up To Leafs’ Hopes

<div class="byline">BY JAY GREENBERG</div>KANSAS CITY&mdash;Kemper Arena is a cavernous place, with 16,000 constant reminders to the Kansas City Hockey Associates of just how much selling has to be done.Almost two-thirds of the way through the Scouts&rsquo; first season, the average attendance had crept tup to 8,120, which though, and for weeknight games even land of milk and honey that Ed Thompson, the club president, dreamed of when he started pursuing an N.H.L. franchise four years ago.The first 8,120 was the easy part, though, and for week night games even that many people can&rsquo;t be guaranteed. Yet, at least on the surface, this hasn&rsquo;t brought about any disillusionment to Thompson and the 25 other investors.&ldquo;Everyone is gung ho,&rdquo; Thompson said. &ldquo;When you have that many investors, you know they&rsquo;re not going to agree on everything. But I&rsquo;m satisfied. We&rsquo;re ahead of where we projected.&rdquo;The club will lose money this year, but less than expected Thompson says. Losses are projected for next year, too, but he is still hopeful the club will begin to turn a profit by the third year of operation. In the meantime, he insists the club is well enough financed to absorb the losses, and he doesn&rsquo;t forsee any changes in the organizational setup.&ldquo;We have partner who would like a bigger share,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re very well capitalized. There&rsquo;s no problem whatsoever.&rdquo;There have been, here and there suggestions to the contrary, many of them neatly rebutted by Thompson. The Scouts have endeavored to keep expenses down, which at times has left the public guessing they are not well funded.It began with the negotiations for Wilf Paiement. Thompson was adamant at first in his refusal to pay what it was going to take to sign the club&rsquo;s No. 1 draft choice, but he had a late change of heart.The&rsquo;trade of goalie Michel Plasse soon after it had been publicized that he was seeking a six-figure contract for next year, was another. Then Alan Eagleson, Paiement&rsquo;s attorney and president of the N.H.L. Players Association, said in a magazine story that there were only two clubs with which he had to worry about his clients being paid&mdash;Pittsburgh and Kansas City.But Paiement was eventually signed to a contract that Eagleson said made Wilf the highest-paid rookie in N.H.L. history, and the Plasse trade, whatever its motiviation, brought important defensive help in Jean-Guy Lagace and a goaltender, Denis Herron, who has proved to be at least the equal of Plasse. The team is showing considerable progress on the ice, and the players have not missed a paycheck. If the organization is teetering under an overwhelming financial load, there are no outward signs.The club, however, has tried to keep down other routine operating costs, such as&mdash;in violation of N.H.L. by-laws, traveling to certain cities on the day of games.&ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s a ridiculous assumption on your part,&rdquo; said Thompson. &ldquo;The public doesn&rsquo;t know whether we fly in the day of the game or the week before. St. Louis flew in here the day of the game. Does that mean they&rsquo;re in financial trouble? What for? To save a few dollars on a hotel, that doesn&rsquo;t mean anything. I wasn&rsquo;t even aware that we did that. It certainly didn&rsquo;t come from me. What else?&ldquo;I first got into it for business reasons,&rdquo; says Thompson. &ldquo;Now, I&rsquo;m really hooked as a fan. There&rsquo;s a reason for it to be selling every where the way it is. I&rsquo;m really enjoying it.&rdquo; &#9632;

Scouts’ Owner Thompson Optimistic For Future

<div class="byline">BY ALAN TRUEX</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01869/3526329-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ERIC VAIL&hellip;Missed Eight Games</figcaption></div>ATLANTA&mdash;When &ldquo;Boom Boom&rdquo; Geoffrion rened his coaching position so unexctedly, it left the Atlanta Flames with but anything resembling an exciting kname.About all the Flames have is &ldquo;Rar&rdquo;&mdash;for Rey Comeau&mdash;and Knobby&rdquo;&mdash;for the bald-headed Bob iter. The Flames have also given Jacques Richard a nickname, but it&rsquo;s not the kind that looks, real good in print.The team&rsquo;s publicity department has tried tagging Pat Quinn with &ldquo;The Irish Enforcer&rdquo; and Randy Manery with &ldquo;Haystacks&rdquo; and Daniel Bouchard with &ldquo;Flakes&rdquo;, but so far nothing really has stuck.The latest attempt has been with Eric Vail, a 6&rsquo;2&rdquo;, 210-pound rookie left winger who is a natural for &ldquo;Big Train.&rdquo;That nickname started when Vail was playing junior hockey. He had a coach who stuttered a lot in tense situations. When Vail would pick up the puck in his own zone and begin barreling toward the opposition&rsquo;s net, the coach would hang over the boards and scream:&ldquo;G, g, g, go, you b, b, b big train, go!&rdquo;&ldquo;Big Train&rdquo; also fit because Vail as a child supposedly was quite fond of trains. So much, in fact, that he was called &ldquo;Choo-Choo.&rdquo;But as perfect as &ldquo;Big Train&rdquo; is, it has never caught on too well with Vail&rsquo;s teammates on the Flames. They prefer calling him merely &ldquo;Big E.&rdquo;Perhaps they ought to call him Rich Little, for the comic impersonations he does of his teammates. His best imitations so far are Bryan Hextall&rsquo;s gait and Eddie Kea&rsquo;s nose.The nickname Vail prefers is &ldquo;Big E,&rdquo; which is like that of his idol, Frank Mahovlich, The Big M. Vail and Mahovlich were born in the same town, Timmons, Ont.&ldquo;If I were going to pattern my game after anybody,&rdquo; Vail says, &ldquo;it would be him. So I got the nickname and then changed my number.&rdquo;When The Big M left the NHL last summer, Vail felt comfortable in changing his old No. 25 to 27, left vacant by Mahovlich.He says, &ldquo;Now if 1 can just score as many goals as he did&hellip;&rdquo;He isn&rsquo;t headed for a Mahovlich-type season, but he may yet score enough goals to take the Calder Trophy. Although he missed eight games with a broken left wrist and played, in a cast for several others, Vail at press time was tied with Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Pierre Larouche for most goals by a rookie, 21.Vail insists, like all rookie-of-the-year candidates, that he doesn&rsquo;t spend much time thinking about being rookie-of-the-year. But he admits, &ldquo;I gotta be honest. I would really, really like to be rookie-of-the-year. It&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;ve thought about now for a couple of seasons.&rdquo;Ironically, injuries are greatly responsible for giving Vail a shot at the Calder Trophy. For if he hadn&rsquo;t had back and shoulder problems last year, he would have played in too many games to qualify for the honor. As it was, he played in 23 games, two short of the maximum for rookie status.So he got his second chance as a rookie this season, and the 21-year-old Vail has made the most of it. &ldquo;If I end up scoring 30 goals and have 50 or 55 points, which I think 1 can do, then I should be among the top three in voting,&rdquo; he says.FLAMES NOTES: Fred Creighton, replacing Bernie Geoffrion as coach, had a 1-1-2 record to start, and the Flames remained in fourth place in the Patrick Division.The team&rsquo;s playoff hopes received a jolt by Bob Leiter&rsquo;s second broken ankle of the season. Leiter hopes to return for the final two weeks of the year. Guy Chouinard, 18-year-old center, was kept on the Flames to replace Leiter.Geoffrion, returning to Altanta after a vacation in the Bahamas, said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not afraid to say my nerves were shot. I couldn&rsquo;t sleep. 1 couldn&rsquo;t eat properly.&rdquo; He says, &ldquo;Now I&rsquo;m gonna go and laugh and smile and enjoy life.&rdquo; &#9632;

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‘Big E’ Has Second Chance At Calder Trophy

<div class="byline">BY HAL SIGURDSON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01702/3526360-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="564" height="657"><figcaption class="caption-body">ANDRE BOUDRIAS&hellip;Crafty Center</figcaption></div>VANCOUVER&mdash;To Andre Boudrias fame is an elusive rascal, his arm forever draped over other shoulders.The Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; stocky center quietly goes about his business of setting up goals and occasionally scoring one of his own. but nobody seems to notice.The National Hockey League&rsquo;s weekly statistical bulletin of Feb. 17 was crammed with the lofty achievements of the previous week&rsquo;s play.Proper hommage was paid to Yvan Cournoyer&rsquo;s remarkable performance against the Chicago Black Hawks whe rein the mighty Roadrunner scored five goals, assisted on two others and won Hawk goaltender Mike Veisor an allexpense paid trip to Dallas of the Central League following Montreal&rsquo;s 12-3 victory.Montreal&rsquo;s, home-and-home series with the Black Hawks also earned honorable mention for the Canadiens&rsquo; Peter Mahovlich. whose four assists made him the most helpful Habitant of them all. His four helpers left large Peter with 59 for the season, one more than Jean Beliveau&rsquo;s former Montreal record of 58.Also cited for accomplishments above and beyond the call of duty were:Greg Polis, who shook up Minnesota with four goals in the New York Rangers&rsquo; 9-2 win over the North Stars: Eric Vail, who scored all three goals in Atlanta&rsquo;s 3-3 tie with Vancouver. Rick Kehoe, who scored three times as Pittsburgh roughed up Toronto, 8-3.Nowhere, however, was there any mention of Andre Boudrias. whose production of seven points in less than 24 hours was left unrecorded for statistical filberts to fondle.Boudrias&rsquo; un acclaimed span of glory began at 8:05 p.m. (PST) Friday, Feb. 14 and concluded roughly 23 hours later. In that time slot the Canucks defeated the Detroit Red Wings 5-4 and tied Atlanta 3-3 with Boudrias either scoring or assisting on seven of their eight goals.He scored one goal and assisted on three others in the Detroit game and assisted on all three Vancouver goals against Atlanta. It should also be noted that Boudrias&rsquo; final two assists against the Wings were accomplished by winning clutch face offs in the Detroit end in the closing minutes of the game.The crafty Vancouver center&rsquo;s six helpers brought his assist total for the season to 49. That makes him seventh in the league in that department, a bit of intelligence that figures to be virtually unbeatable in a trivia contest.Boudrias finished with 60 assists last season and his two-year production says he&rsquo;s one of the top playmakers in hockey. But only two people seem to fully appreciate the fact&mdash;his left winger and his right winger.This year that&rsquo;s Don Lever and De nis Ververgaert.Lever, with 27 goals, was the third highest scoring left winger in the league behind Detroit&rsquo;s Danny Grant and Buffalo&rsquo;s Rick Martin.Ververgaert, with only 13 goals. Was well down the list among right winger but only because he missed 23 gam with a shoulder separation. Ververgae scored 26 goals as a rookie last season Vancouver general manager-coach PI Maloney confidently expects him score 40 or more the first time her mains healthy for a complete seasonCANUCK CAPERS: Vancouver week also produced a 4-0 victory over the Kansas City Scouts and goaltend Gary Smith&rsquo;s sixth shutout of the sea son&hellip;That&rsquo;s as many shutouts as a Vancouver goaltenders recorded dr ring the Canucks&rsquo; first four NHL sea sons. &#9632;

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Fame Eluding Vancouver’s Boudrias

VANCOUVER&mdash;How about this for wild finishes!On Feb. 14 the Detroit Red Wings were playing the Canucks in Vancouver.At 14:14 of the third period, Danny Grant scored his third goal of the game to send the Wings ahead 4-3. The Canucks then bounced back with goals from Ab MeMarco and Dennis Ververgaert to go ahead 5-4. That&rsquo;s how the game ended, but for 15,570 fans at the Pacific Coliseum the excitement was far from over.With 51 seconds remaining, Vancouver defenseman Bob Dailey drew a high sticking penalty. Canocks&rsquo; forward Paulin Bordeleau demonstrated his disapproval of the call by throwing his glove at referee Ron Wicks. Wicks promptly assessed a bench penalty, leaving the Canucks now two men short. Bordeleau was then tardy in reporting to the penalty box, prompting Wicks to add a 10-minute misconduct sentence to the bench minor.At this point, Vancouver center Andre Boudrias demanded that Wicks measure Grant&rsquo;s stick (if the curvature exceeded half an inch the Detroit player would draw a minute penalty), but Wicks said he wasn&rsquo;t going to do any measuring until the Vancouver players got into the penalty box. While the official was waiting for this to happen, reliable witnesses insist Detroit coach Alex Delvecchio was observed jumping on hockey sticks at the Wings&rsquo; bench.Finally a Detroit stick was measured and found to be perfectly legal, but Boudrias insists it was defenseman Gary Bergman&rsquo;s stick, not Grant&rsquo;s. His protest earned him a 10-minute misconduct.All this left the Canucks and their &#2404; fans most upset, but not as upset as the Red Wings were to become.The game finally resumed and with 12 seconds remaining Detroit&rsquo;s Pierre Jarry was left with a clear path to the goal. But, oops, suddenly the Vancouver net was off its mooring and the play was whistled dead.The Wings, to a man, claimed Vancouver goaltender Gary Smith deliberately knocked the net off the posts. If right, they were entitled to a penalty shot since the incident occurred with less than two minutes to play.No penalty shot was awarded. Wicks claimed he didn&rsquo;t see Smith commit the alleged dastardly deed. &#9632;

Canucks, Red Wings Keep Fans In A Tizzy

Hockey Camp well run and established. Situated in well known Northern Ontario tourist area on large lake with all advantages of a tourist camp such as swimming, canoeing, sports and games apart from well planned and supervised hockey training in the arena.&bull; Excellent accomodation for boys and the staff and luxury built home for owner with 3-car garage.&bull; All buildings in A-1 condition.&bull; Good opportunity for a hockey player to run summer operation and keep fit or anyone interested in this pleasant and profitable summer business.&bull; For more details call: Ted Dobbs at Kleimaker and Bruse Angencies&mdash;474-8000 (area code 705) or in the evenings 705-472-4053. &#9632;

HOCKEY CAMP FOR SALE

<div class="byline">BY DEREK COOPER</div>OAKLAND&mdash;Dave Schultz stood in the middle of the room clasping the Stanley Cup to his chest. Bobby Clarke, wearing only a towel, spoke into a forest of microphones. Bernie Parent finally took of his mask and under the glare of the television lights, revealed a smile that just wouldn&rsquo;t quit.It was the Philadelphia dressing room after that memorable sixth game of the championship series and for everyone present it was utter madness. mayhem, and chaos. For everyone, that is. except Al MacAdam. Oh. MacAdam was in the room all right, but the dressing space in front of his locker was devoid of news media so he dressed quickly and left totally unnoticed.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01601/3526439-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="276" height="368"><figcaption class="caption-body">Al MacAdam</figcaption></div>The next day two million people turned out to honor the Stanley Cup Champions in a victory motorcade. While cars containing people such as coach Fred Shero had to turn back for security reasons, the car in which MacAdam was riding merely brought a number of &ldquo;Who&rsquo;s he?&rdquo; queries from the crowd.The Flyers had brought MacAdam up from their Richmond team (AHL) for the playoffs and he had come to play. He had been up with the Flyers before. 10 games at the beginning of the season,&rsquo; and with Richmond he had scored 23 goals and 22 assists. More than anything he wanted to make a worthwhile contribution to that eventual march to the World Championship. But he didn&rsquo;t get the chance.MacAdam played in only one game, and that was against the New York Rangers in the semi-finals. He practiced with the team, traveled with the team, but watched all of the Stanley Cup action from the stands.And so while the team rejoiced over their amazing accomplishments, MacAdam, feeling almost like a spectator, stood to the rear and watched that too.&ldquo;I just didn&rsquo;t feel that I was a part of it,&rdquo; he says, recalling his limited taste of the Stanley Cup celebration with some bitterness. &ldquo;After all, I hadn&rsquo;t contributed anything. The idea is to play if you&rsquo;re brought up. but they didn&rsquo;t play me.&rdquo;.There was a time when MacAdam didn&rsquo;t feel that he was ready to play in the NHL. Coming from the little town of Morell, P.E.I. (Pop. 500) he was less than confident in his own ability when he turned professional as Philadelphia&rsquo;s number four pick in the 1972 amateur draft. But two years in Richmond convinced him that he was indeed NHL material.&ldquo;I needed those two years in Richmond,&rdquo; he admits. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t very sure of myself when I first came, but the coach gave me a lot of confidence. He made me realize that I was a better hockey player than 1 thought I was.&rdquo;So at the end of last season, after completing a fine year in the AHL and having &ldquo;tested the water&rdquo; in the NHL, MacAdam knew that he belonged in the big leagues and was justifiably mad when he didn&rsquo;t get to see any real time in the playoffs.&ldquo;I was ready,&rdquo; he says simply. &ldquo;I just needed the ice time to prove it to others.&rdquo;This year he&rsquo;s getting the ice time and with two-thirds of the season completed, there are few people who have not become believers in this 22-year-old rookie. Traded to California during the off-season, MacAdam stepped into a regular spot and after a slow start suddenly caught fire and now ranks among the top scorers on the Seals&rsquo; team.Allthough overshadowed by teammate Dave &lsquo;The Wrecker&rsquo; Hrechkosy for Calder Cup consideration, MacAdam has accumulated some pretty impressive credentials of his own, and is every bit a candidate for top rookie honors. Through early February he had 36 points (15-21) as compared to Hre-chkosy&rsquo;s 35 (23-12).&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve improved since the beginning of the season,&rdquo; he says, in explanation of his slow start. &ldquo;Before I was getting rid of the puck too early and it&rsquo;s taken me a little while to adjust to playing the off (right) wing.&ldquo;I feel that I&rsquo;m a part of this team.&rdquo; he says happily, &ldquo;and I want to contribute more.&rdquo;Al MacAdam is no longer on the out-side edge of a hockey team looking in. &#9632;

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Cast Off By Flyers, Seals’ Rookie MacAdam No Longer An Outsider

<div class="byline">BY BILL HEUFELDER</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;His Buffalo team having scratched its way to a 3-3 tie in the dying seconds against the Pittsburgh Penguins, coach Floyd Smith could readily explain their improvement.&ldquo;They seem to be playing with a lot more confidence,&rdquo; Smith explained. &ldquo;And they&rsquo;re getting excellent goaltending. Some club is going to have their hands full with them in the playoffs.&rdquo; Pittsburgh, which came back to stretch its home unbeaten streak to 18 games with a 3-2 win over the New York Islanders, is streaking toward the playoffs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03386/3526508-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="277" height="455"><figcaption class="caption-body">Michel Plasse</figcaption></div>The goaltending that impressed Smith that particular night was the work of newly-acquired Michel Plasse, who has provided an exciting dimension to a young, explosive club.Plasse, obtained for Jean-Guy Lagace and goalie Denis Herron in midJanuary, backstopped the Penguins to a pair of wins on the West Coast, handled the netminding in the tie with Buffalo and protected against a late, furious charge by the Islanders.Montreal property for seven years before Kansas City obtained him in the expansion draft, Plasse admits he needed time to adjust to another new club. It was a pleasant adjustment.&ldquo;If we fall one goal behind here, I know this team can score goals,&rdquo; the 26-year-old netminder said. &ldquo;At Kansas City, the only thing 1 put on my mind was &lsquo;How many goals am I going to get against me tonight?&rsquo; &ldquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been sharp for the last three games,&rdquo; said Plasse, who gave an excellent performance in preserving the. one-goal win over the Islanders.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t really in my first two games here,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m wearing a new sweater. It feels funny.&rdquo;There was nothing wrong with the sweater. He just needed time to feel comfortable wearing it. &ldquo;It was the first time I was traded,&rdquo; he noted.Plasse also proved to be hard on those who tried to muscle their way into his area. When the Islanders&rsquo; Gary Howatt encroached on the goal crease while battling Colin Campbell for position in front of the net, he elbowed the Penguin defenseman. Plasse, in turn, dumped Howatt on his back.&ldquo;I just put my hand over his face and pushed him right down,&rdquo; Plasse said. &ldquo;If you put them down early, they don&rsquo;t come back. I don&rsquo;t like anybody in the crease.&rdquo;While the addition of Plasse eased the load on Gary Inness considerably, the rest of the Penguins gave determined efforts that provided points at a steady pace.&ldquo;Everybody is working,&rdquo; said one of the club&rsquo;s most industrious players, right winger Rick Kehoe, who had helped to dismantle his former club, Toronto, in a 8-3 whipping.The longer the home streak remains intact, the more confidence the players seem to gain. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got it in our minds,&rdquo; Keoe said, &ldquo;that we&rsquo;re not going to lose on our home ice again.&rdquo;PENGUIN NOTES: His burden eased, Inness, who has been alternating every other game with Plasse, was tendinggoalin the rout of the Leafs&hellip;Kehoe, Vic Hadfield and Lowell MacDonald each reached the 20-goal mark in that game, giving the Penguins seven, the most of any NHL team, in that category.Hadfield delivered his 20th with a shorthanded goal, his fourth of the year&hellip;It also marked his eighth bigleague campaign with at least 20.Steve Durbano was scheduled to have corrective surgery performed on his injured left wrist&hellip;Pierre Larouche continues to lead all rookies in scoring in his bid to win the Calder Trophy.The Penguins&rsquo; attendance improved considerably with two successive week-night crowds of impressive size, including a 13,404 sellout against the Islanders&hellip;The team&rsquo;s record since Christmas is 14-4-6.<h2>NHL Leaders</h2>(Including Sun. Feb. 23)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01589/3526501-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="596" height="716"></div> &#9632;

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Streaking Pens Stretch Home Unbeaten Streak

(Including Sun. Feb. 16)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02491/3526546-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="599" height="2447"></div><h2>Team Penalties</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-04327/3526539-1-eng-US/f0019-042.jpg" title="f0019-04" width="584" height="546"></div> &#9632;

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Looking At NHL Goalers

Here&rsquo;s how the new Stanley Cup playoff alignment will work for the 1974-75 season:&bull; 12 teams qualify for playoffs. First 3 teams in each division standing.&bull; 4 first-place teams in each division will get bye into quarter-finals.&bull; 8 second and third place teams will take part in first-round series. This is the breakdown:Team with most points vs team with fewest; second highest with points vs second lowest; third highest vs third lowest; fourth highest vs fourth lowest in points. (All series best-of-three.)Based on this week&rsquo;s NHL standings, Toronto at Los Angeles; St-Louis at Boston; Chicago at N.Y. Rangers; Pittsburgh at N.Y. Islanders.&bull;In quarter-finals, four winners of first-round series will play first-place teams of each division, again with the team with highest number of points among those 8 teams opposing team with fewest, second highest vs second lowest, etc. (All series best-of-seven.)Based on this week&rsquo;s NHL standings: Tor-L.A. at Vancouver; St. L-Bos. at Philadelphia; Chi.-Rang. at Buffalo; Pitt. Isles, at Montreal.&bull;In semi-finals, four quarter-final survivors will meet again with team with most points playing team with the fewest, etc. (Both series best-of-seven.)&bull;Two semi-final winners will meet in finals with team with highest points having home ice advantage. (Final will be best-of-seven affair.) &#9632;

New Stanley Cup Playoff Picture

<div class="byline">BY JACK MCCARTHY</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaBOSTON&mdash;In the wake of increasingly louder and more frequent cries for coach Don Cherry&rsquo;s scalp. Bruins&rsquo; general manager Harry Sinden is maintaining a strict, &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t just do something, stand there&rdquo; policy.And not surprisingly, Harry&rsquo;s attitude has created acid indigestion among the local media.In one case, a columnist criticized Sinden for failing to make use of Boston properties in Rochester in view of the varsity&rsquo;s plight, while another tore Cherry to shreads, then chided the club for casting adrift such luminaries as Bill Goldsworthy. Tom Webster. Joe Watson, Bernie Parent, Doug Favell and Gary Domhoefer in expansion drafts, though certainly the current regime cannot be faulted for those blunders.Still another sportscaster kissed the Bruins off. insisting &ldquo;their defense leaves a lot to be desired, and their desire leaves a lot to be defensed.&rdquo;Though Bruins&rsquo; &ldquo;critiques&rdquo; have been prevalent in the press all season, the latest volley was fired following consecutive road losses to the Black Hawks. Sabres and Flyers.However, Sinden, who returned with assistant Tom Johnson from a scouting mission in Sweden just in time to catch the road carnage, turned a deaf ear to all suggestions of trades, coaching changes and harikari.There was even some buzzing about a possible return to the bench by Harry himself, particularly after he delivered a dressing room lecture to the club following the 3-1 loss to the Sabres.&ldquo;Sure, I&rsquo;ve heard some of that, but you can just forget about it,&rdquo; he snapped.&ldquo;I spoke to them only briefly, and I didn&rsquo;t say anything that Don hasn&rsquo;t told them repeatedly. This is the first time this year I&rsquo;ve gone in there, and I have no intention of undermining our coach.&rdquo;The back-to-back road losses witnessed by the Bruins&rsquo; GM left him in a mild state of shock.&ldquo;I know there is some talk about a possible lack of incentive with the divisional setup this season, but there should be built-in incentive for every game you play, particularly against the likes of Chicago. Buffalo and Philly.&rdquo;If Sinden was thinking trade, he did an excellent job of disguising it, but if he does act it&rsquo;ll have to be soon, since the pre-playoff deadline is just around the corner.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not afraid of making a change,&rdquo; he explained, &ldquo;but just what do you do? I certainly have no intention of making trades just for the sake of making them.&rdquo;Harry made no mention of a personnel shuffle between Boston and Rochester, so he is apparently determined to sink or swim with a pat hand, unless a suitable offer surfaces.Besides Orr, Esposito and Bucyk, Gregg Sheppard and Don Marcotte logically qualify as untouchables. But the Bruins are no longer in a position to dictate to others, so the possible departure of either Sheppard or Marcotte&mdash;and particularly Marcotte&mdash;for the right price cannot be discounted.Probably everyone else is available, but the trade value of many is nil. Defenseman Dallas Smith, for instance, the perennial All Star who is experiencing his worst NHL campaign in several years, would bring little because of his age (33). Wayne Cashman&rsquo;s chronic back aches are scaring off prospective buyers. Kenny Hodge, a 50-goal scorer last season has tapered off drastically. and so has his worth.Others, like Carol Vadnais, Bob Schmautz and Andre Savard, are even less likely to be dealt. Sinden is reluctant to offer Vadnais, who finally gained All Star recognition this winter after arriving in the Hub three years ago highly-priced, costing the B&rsquo;s promising winger Reg Leach, now a full-fledged Flyer.Sinden still holds a great deal of res-, pect for the enigmatic Schmautz&rsquo;, who was brought in from Vancouver for Chris Oddleifson in mid-winter last year, but has been injured twice this season and remains virtually untapped.Dave Forbes, Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, Al Sims and others have little or no trade value.One man who was found expendable was Walt McKechnie who went to Detroit for Henry Nowak and Earl Anderson.The vote of confidence from Sinden, interpreted by some as a kiss of death, did little for Cherry&rsquo;s morale.&ldquo;Sure I appreciate it,&rdquo; admitted the coach, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;d appreciate a long winning streak a lot more&rsquo;&hellip;Cherry&rsquo;s position has been unenviable from the start. Arriving on the scene with promises to assemble a &ldquo;strong, bruising club like I had in Rochester,&rdquo; Cherry has fallen far short of his goal.And to compound matters, consider his remark following the Bruins&rsquo; 9-5 season opener loss to the Sabres at Buffalo:&ldquo;All I know is that if Buffalo is anywhere near us by the end of the year, we&rsquo;re going to be in big trouble&rdquo;.Don&rsquo;t look now, Don, but&hellip;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01433/3526601-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="563" height="717"><figcaption class="caption-body">HARRY SINDEN&hellip;Lectured Bruins</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0020-01

Cries For Cherry’s Scalp Getting Louder

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02328/3526639-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="525" height="620"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE MURPHY</figcaption></div>Los Angeles KingsOne of the main reasons for the Kings&rsquo; better showing has been the improvement of Mike Murphy.Last season, between the Ran gers and Kings, he compiled a total of 15 goals. Five goals in the past week have lifted his count to 25 already this season.He tallied once in 2-2 tie with California, had two goals and two assists in 6-0 drubbing of Boston and another pair of markers in 6-1 dumping of Washington.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03274/3526632-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="531" height="612"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK MARTIN</figcaption></div>Buffalo SabresThe Sabres&rsquo; French Connection is again spreading terror throughout the NHL.Rick Martin continued his fine play by collecting eight points to raise his season total to 73 (38-35).He had two markers, including the winner, and an assist in 4-1 win over Toronto, two assists in 3-2 edging of the Islanders, a single marker in 6-6 sawoff with Philadelphia and a goal and an assist in 9-4 drubbing of Washington. &#9632;

f0020-02

NHL’s Stars of the week

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div>TWIN CITIES&mdash;When the Minnesota North Stars summoned 21-year-old Pete LoPresti from New Haven in November, he was not sure how long a visit he would be paying to the National Hockey League. He wasn&rsquo;t sure, the North Stars weren&rsquo;t either.Backup goalie Fern Rivard had suffered a severe back injury in a game at Philadelphia in November, and Lo-Presti was brought in to act in a reserve role behind Cesare Maniago.Three months later. LoPresti is still with the North Stars, almost a rookie no longer. The North Stars, to groom him for the future, have him playing two games to Maniago&rsquo;s one.And the results are improving. In back-to-back starts early in February, LoPresti beat Philadelphia 5-0 and Atlanta 3-2 after losing 2-1 to Chicago. Not bad for a rookie, a 1.33 average for the three games.&ldquo;1 figured I was here to stay for awhile when they told me to get an apartment,&rdquo; said LoPresti, whose father once tended goal for the Black Hawks and put his name in the NHL record books by standing up to an 80-shot barrage against Boston.&ldquo;The biggest adjustment to make from college is getting used to the shooters,&rdquo; LoPresti said. &ldquo;They are more accurate, shoot harder. 1 was expecting it to be that way. but I never really realized how how much until I came up.&rdquo;LoPresti played college hockey at Denver University, which has produced several players for the pro hockey ranks. He grew up in Eveleth, a hockey hotbed in Minnesota where the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame is located.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s still sort of unbelievable at this stage, after watching these people all your life,&rdquo; LoPresti commented about facing the stars of the NHL. &ldquo;Realistically. I didn&rsquo;t expect to be here this early. But, then, you work your way up just as they did.&rdquo;When the North Stars selected him in the amateur draft last May, there were those who thought perhaps he was not good enough to be taken on the third round. There were six votes to two against selecting him on that round during a Minnesota strategy huddle.Since general manager Jack Gordon was one of the two, LoPresti became a North Star and passed up his remaining eligibility at Denver.LoPresti went several games before posting his first victory, several more before that first career shutout.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen some of the teams twice now.&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and I learn a little more each time. The next time is easier.&rdquo;LoPresti is cutting his NHL teeth during a season of rebuilding, a program that has seen Gordon bring six new players to Minnesota in trades.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a whole new team and it takes time to get used to playing together. One thing going for us that we have become a close knit team. We&rsquo;re spirited&mdash;it&rsquo;s a matter of getting more breaks.&rdquo;Maniago, who may retire at the end of the season, has been free with advice for the young goalkeeper.&ldquo;Cesare has been a great help,&rdquo; LoPresti said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been around the league since 1961, knows every trickof the trade and has shared his knowledge. Like the game in Atlanta&mdash;he told me to be sure and watch out how lively the boards are behind the net.&rdquo;NORTH STAR NOTES: Defenseman Bill Plager was called up from New Haven for two games when Tom Reid suffered a broken toe. Doug Rombough missed a game with an ankle injury. After a 4-2 loss to the Islanders, coach Charlie Burns sent the team out for a rugged practice without pucks. Henry Boucha has been skating during practices, but still says his vision is not right from eye surgery to correct fractures in the eye socket. Lou Nanne set late February as the target date for his return to action from a broken bone in his wrist.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01277/3526670-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="566" height="729"><figcaption class="caption-body">PETE LOPRESTI&hellip;Back-To-Back Wins</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0021-01

Stars Grooming LoPresti For Future

<div class="byline">BY JACK BERRY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01283/3526732-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">DANNY GRANT&hellip;Will Surpass Personal Best</figcaption></div>DETROIT&mdash;Danny Grant has been something of a postman during his eight seasons in the National Hockey League&hellip;through influenza and pulled muscles, lacerations and stitches&hellip;Grant has played and Grant has delivered.The Detroit Red Wing left wing just played in his 500th consecutive NHL game, a plateau achieved only by record-holder Andy Hebenton (630), Johnny Wilson (580), Alex Delvecchio (548) and St. Louis&rsquo; Garry Unger.Grant has missed only one game since he came up with the Montreal Canadiens in 1967-68. The miss was the following season when he was traded to Minnesota.&ldquo;I pulled my groin in a game at home in Minnesota, tried it for one or two shifts on a Saturday in Toronto and couldn&rsquo;t go and sat out the next night in Boston. That&rsquo;s the only one I&rsquo;ve missed.&rdquo;As Grant talked, it was obvious he was playing over of the ailments that are the life of a hockey player but which haven&rsquo;t stopped him&mdash;the cold and the flu.&ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be nice to hit 500,&rdquo; Grant said a few days before he was due to reach the mark. &ldquo;Only a few&rsquo; guys have done it&hellip;a nice, select group.&rdquo;Grant has been one of the steadiest and most productive left wings in hockey since making rookie of the year in 1968-69, and he&rsquo;d just finished another strong performance as the Wings snapped a five-game winless streak with a 5-3 victory over Toronto.His line, with Marcel Dionne at center and Phil Roberto on right wing, scored four of the five goals&mdash;Roberto, bouncing back from being in Delvecchio&rsquo;s doghouse, scored three goals and Dionne netted his 30th. Grant assisted on two of the goals and had seven of the line&rsquo;s 21 shots.Not much good has happened to the Red Wings this season but from the start there have been two bright spots&mdash;Dionne and Grant.&rsquo;With two months left in the season, Grant had 32 goals and 60 total points. His goal output was twoshy of his NHL best and his 60 points were seven short of his best.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m a 30 goal scorer (he&rsquo;s done it four times and hit 29 two other occasions) but I&rsquo;m not the type of guy who is going to run over anybody,&rdquo; Grant said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have blazing speed but I think I know enough about the game.&rdquo;He&rsquo;ll get no argument from Delvecchio. the Wings&rsquo; manager and coach.Say &ldquo;Grant&rdquo; and a rare smile crosses Delvecchio&rsquo;s face.Detroit management hasn&rsquo;t made many trades lately the fans remember fondly but Delvecchio came up with a winner when he dealt popular Henry Boucha to Minnesota last summer for Grant.&ldquo;Danny has good hockey sense. He&rsquo;s confident when he has the puck. He&rsquo;s thinking all the time: he doesn&rsquo;t make many bad plays.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been a heckuva help to Marcel, too. I think he&rsquo;s part of the reason Marcel is doing so well. They make good plays,&rdquo; Delvecchio said.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never played with a center as good as Marcel.&rdquo; the 29-year-old left wing said.Grant worked with three centers in his six seasons with the North Stars&mdash;Danny O&rsquo;Shea, Jude Drouin and Dennis Hextall.&ldquo;Dennis was a good fore checker. He&rsquo;d make things happen and you&rsquo;d pick up a lotta loose pucks. Jude couldn&rsquo;t skate like Marcel but he could handle the puck.&rdquo;Grant and Dionne have meshed perfectly since they&rsquo;ve been together.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always believed in giving the puck to my centerman and then skate and get in the hole and holler for the puck. About the only time I&rsquo;ll carry the puck is if Marcel has just made a rush and might be a little winded,&rdquo; Grant said.The Dionne and Grant show&mdash;they&rsquo;ve had a variety of right wings&mdash;is about the only entertainment Red Wing fans have left and they put on a good exhibition.But it&rsquo;s tough when the team obviously is out of playoff contention.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s frustrating to come to the rink with two months to go and know you&rsquo;re out of the playoffs. It isn&rsquo;t that we&rsquo;re trying to lose&hellip;we just seem to get three goals behind right off the bat.&rdquo;Will it improve? What will happen next year?&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re only two or three players and the right attitude away,&rdquo; Grant said.The attitude certainly is no small part and Dionne said that was the point he was trying to make when he said there were only three National Leaguers on the entire club.That caused a furor among the chunky French-Canadian captain&rsquo;s teammates and Delvecchio spoke to Dionne about it. was satisfied with Dionne&rsquo;s explanation that he was misunderstood a little, that he was trying to &ldquo;get their fannies in gear&rdquo; as Delvecchio said.&ldquo;If the shoe fits, wear it,&rdquo; Delvecchio said of Dionne&rsquo;s assessment and he agreed that the NHL standings prove that the shoe indeed fits.RED WING NOTES: Spring housecleaning started early with the Red Wings out of the playoff picture for the eighth time in the last nine years.Delvecchio dealt Jack Lynch, the big defenseman who spent most of his time on offense, to Washington for left wing Dave Kryskow in hopes of picking up some agressiveness and he sent Earl Anderson and Henry Nowak to Boston in return for Walt McKechnie.Defenseman Frank Bathe and forwards Brian McCutcheon and Michel Bergeron were called up&mdash;&ldquo;Bathe will hit,&rdquo; Delvecchio said.Unfortunately, Bathe suffered a concussion in his second game when he collided with Toronto&rsquo;s Ron Ellis. Bathe went down back first and his head snapped and hit the boards.Bergeron, 20, a first year pro, scored in his first NHL game, an 8-5 loss to Boston in which Phil Esposito scored four times, and McCutcheon scored the next night against Toronto, his second NHL game. &#9632;

f0023-01

Grant Reaches 500th Consecutive Game Plateau

(Standings on Tue. Feb. 25)<h2>NORRIS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-2114/3527067-1-eng-US/f0024-212.jpg" title="f0024-21" width="541" height="175"></div><h2>ADAMS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-2214/3527060-1-eng-US/f0024-222.jpg" title="f0024-22" width="540" height="144"></div><h2>PATRICK DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-2314/3527053-1-eng-US/f0024-232.jpg" title="f0024-23" width="539" height="144"></div><h2>SMYTHE DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-2412/3527046-1-eng-US/f0024-242.jpg" title="f0024-24" width="544" height="180"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Tue.Feb.18N.Y. Rangers 2 at Kansas City 2 Buffalo 3 at N.Y. Islanders 2. Montreal 4 at St Louis 4, Los Angeles 6 at Washington 1. Boston 3 at Vancouver iWed. Feb. 19* Chicago 2 at N.Y. Rangers 2; Philadelphia 3 at Detroit 4. Atlanta 4 at Minnesota 2; Los Angeles 2 at Pittsburgh 2, Toronto 3 at California 3.Thu Feb. 20Philadelphia 6 at Buffalo 6, Montreal 6 at Kansas City 3.Fri. Feb. 21Vancouver 4 at N.Y. Islanders 1. Boston 4 at California 6: Buffalo 9 at Washington 4.Sat. Feb. 22N.Y Rangers 2 at Toronto 5; N.Y. Islanders 7 at Montreal 6; Atlanta 3 at Detroit 4 Washington 3 at Chicago 10; St. Louis 2 Pittsburgh 3. Boston 0 at Los Angeles 6; Vancouver 1 at Minnesota 4.Sun. Feb. 23Philadelphia 1 at N.Y. Rangers 2; Atlanta 0 at Chicago 4; St. Louis 7 at Washington 2; Detroit 3 at Pittsburgh 1. Los Angeles 2 at California 2: Minnesota 2 at Kansas City 4; Toronto 1 at Buffalo 4<h2>GAMES TO COME</h2>Tue. Feb. 25St. Louis at N.Y. Islanders; Chicago at Washington; Pittsburgh at Boston; Toronto at Minnesota.Wed. Feb. 26St. Louis at N.Y. Rangers; Philadelphia at Atlanta: Vancouver at Montreal; Washington at Pittsburgh Los Angeles at Detroit Minnesota at California. Kansas City at TorontoThu. Feb. 27Vancouver at Philadelphia. Detroit at Boston; Los Angeles at Buffalo.Fri. Feb. 28Chicago at AtlantaSat. Mar. 1California at N. Y. Islanders; Kansas City at Philadelphia. St Louis at Montreal Washington at Toronto Vancouver at Pittsburgh. Buffalo at Detroit. Minnesota at Los AngelesSun. Mar. 2Pittsburgh at N.Y. Rangers. N.Y. islanders at Buffalo. St. Louis at Philadelphia. Kansas City at Atlanta. Vancouver at Washington; Toront&lsquo;o&rsquo;al Detroit. Chicago at BostonMon. Mar. 3California at MontrealTue. Mar. 1Boston at Washington Kansas City at Lo&sect; Angeles.Wed. Mar. 5Buffalo at N. Y. Rangers. Philadelphia at Minnesota. Montreal at Atlanta Pittsburgh at Kansas City; Detroit at Toronto; Vancouver at St Louis. Chicago at CaliforniaThu. Mar 6N. Y. Islanders at Los AngelesFri. Mar 7N.Y. Rangers at Kansas City. Boston at Atlanta; Washington at Montreat; Chicago at Vancouver &#9632;

f0024-21

LOOKING AT THE NHL SCOREBOARD

<h2>Tue. Feb. 18 RANGERS 2, KANSAS CITY 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01289/3527015-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="597" height="411"></div><h2>BUFFALO 3, ISLANDERS 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02223/3527008-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="601" height="503"></div><h2>MONTREAL 4, ST. LOUIS 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03159/3527001-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="597" height="528"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES 6, WASHINGTON 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04119/3526994-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="613" height="524"></div><h2>BOSTON 3, VANCOUVER 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0591/3526987-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="587" height="499"></div><h2>Wed. Feb. 19 CHICAGO 2, RANGERS 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0678/3526980-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="596" height="418"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA 3, DETROIT 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0764/3526973-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="618" height="720"></div><h2>ATLANTA 4, MINNESOTA 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0859/3526966-1-eng-US/f0024-082.jpg" title="f0024-08" width="591" height="207"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0954/3526959-1-eng-US/f0024-092.jpg" title="f0024-09" width="597" height="280"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES 2, PITTSBURGH 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1048/3526952-1-eng-US/f0024-102.jpg" title="f0024-10" width="597" height="437"></div><h2>TORONTO 3, CALIFORNIA 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1146/3526945-1-eng-US/f0024-112.jpg" title="f0024-11" width="593" height="516"></div><h2>Thu. Feb. 20 PHILADELPHIA 6, BUFFALO 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1240/3526938-1-eng-US/f0024-122.jpg" title="f0024-12" width="587" height="118"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1330/3526931-1-eng-US/f0024-132.jpg" title="f0024-13" width="599" height="521"></div><h2>MONTREAL 6, KANSAS CITY 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1424/3526924-1-eng-US/f0024-142.jpg" title="f0024-14" width="595" height="538"></div><h2>Fri. Feb. 21 VANCOUVER 4, ISLANDERS 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1520/3526917-1-eng-US/f0024-152.jpg" title="f0024-15" width="594" height="367"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1618/3526910-1-eng-US/f0024-162.jpg" title="f0024-16" width="569" height="67"></div><h2>BOSTON 4, CALIFORNIA 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1716/3526903-1-eng-US/f0024-172.jpg" title="f0024-17" width="602" height="662"></div><h2>BUFFALO 9, WASHINGTON 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1815/3526896-1-eng-US/f0024-182.jpg" title="f0024-18" width="600" height="633"></div><h2>Sat. Feb. 22 RANGERS 2, TORONTO 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1915/3526889-1-eng-US/f0024-192.jpg" title="f0024-19" width="597" height="487"></div><h2>ISLANDERS 7, MONTREAL 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-2014/3526882-1-eng-US/f0024-202.jpg" title="f0024-20" width="609" height="638"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01238/3526875-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="593" height="91"></div><h2>ATLANTA 3, DETROIT 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02173/3526868-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="598" height="539"></div><h2>WASHINGTON 3, CHICAGO 10</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03119/3526861-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="598" height="628"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS 2, PITTSBURGH 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0491/3526854-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="592" height="517"></div><h2>BOSTON 0, LOS ANGELES 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0577/3526847-1-eng-US/f0025-052.jpg" title="f0025-05" width="593" height="566"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 1. MINNESOTA 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0661/3526840-1-eng-US/f0025-062.jpg" title="f0025-06" width="592" height="457"></div><h2>Sun. Feb. 23 PHILADELPHIA 1, RANGERS 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0758/3526833-1-eng-US/f0025-072.jpg" title="f0025-07" width="594" height="480"></div><h2>ATLANTA 0, CHICAGO 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0850/3526826-1-eng-US/f0025-082.jpg" title="f0025-08" width="586" height="255"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0944/3526819-1-eng-US/f0025-092.jpg" title="f0025-09" width="595" height="201"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS 7, WASHINGTON 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1031/3526812-1-eng-US/f0025-102.jpg" title="f0025-10" width="590" height="571"></div><h2>DETROIT 3, PITTSBURGH 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1125/3526805-1-eng-US/f0025-112.jpg" title="f0025-11" width="583" height="204"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1220/3526798-1-eng-US/f0025-122.jpg" title="f0025-12" width="590" height="289"></div><h2>MINNESOTA 2, KANSAS CITY 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1316/3526791-1-eng-US/f0025-132.jpg" title="f0025-13" width="588" height="485"></div><h2>TORONTO 1, BUFFALO 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1414/3526784-1-eng-US/f0025-142.jpg" title="f0025-14" width="587" height="204"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1512/3526777-1-eng-US/f0025-152.jpg" title="f0025-15" width="590" height="288"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES 2, CALIFORNIA 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1611/3526770-1-eng-US/f0025-162.jpg" title="f0025-16" width="583" height="91"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1710/3526763-1-eng-US/f0025-172.jpg" title="f0025-17" width="592" height="403"></div> &#9632;

f0024-01

NHL Summaries

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-18" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-187/3527098-1-eng-US/f0025-182.jpg"></div>C&mdash;CaptainA&mdash;Alternate*&mdash;Rookie &#9632;

f0025-18

NHL Team Rosters

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaWINNIPEG&mdash;There probably wasn&rsquo;t a man in hockey today that wasn&rsquo;t glad to see Bobby Hull score 50 goals in 50 games, and that may as well include Maurice Richard, even though he isn&rsquo;t active in the sport professionally.Hull. one of the most popular players over his long and illustrious career, achieved the feat against the Houston Aeros at the Winnipeg Arena over the week, and not only did it become an historic event, it got the Jets rolling again.Hull entered the game needing a hat trick to achieve the mark set by the Rocket in the 1944-45 season in the National Hockey League.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01242/3527136-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="563" height="1174"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOBBY HULL&hellip;Turns Jets Around</figcaption></div>All the great players had tried to accomplish the feat since those war years, but all attempts other than Hull&rsquo;s have fallen short. And it looked very much like Hull&rsquo;s try would fail as well as it wasn&rsquo;t until 18:27 of the third period that Hull took a pass from linemate Ulf Nilsson and rifled a 25-foot shot that deflected off Houston goalie Ron Grahame and fell into the net.&ldquo;It is one of my better accomplishments over my career,&rdquo; said Hull. &ldquo;It has to rank as one of my greatest satisfactions. But I have to give a lot of credit to my linemates Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg. We played as a unit all year long. If it hadn&rsquo;t been for them, I wouldn&rsquo;t have been able to do it.&rdquo;Hull also gave credit to Rudy Pilous, who&rsquo;s return to full time coaching duties allowed the 37-year-old Hull to concentrate more on his playing and re-leived him of his burdensome role of player-coach.Pilous, who was behind the bench when Hull played for the Chicago Black Hawks in the NHL, was particularly pleased to see the veteran right winger achieve the mark.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very momentous occasion for me. I coached him when he scored his first 50 goals,&rdquo; said Pilous.Hull didn&rsquo;t score in the Jets&rsquo; next two games, which followed immediately after the famous Friday night, but the Jets seemed to generate their own momentum from the historic event.Danny Johnson scored a hat trick of his own to spark the Jets against the Chicago Cougars leading Winnipeg to a 6-3 win and previous to that, the Jets had a 5-1 win over the Cleveland Crusaders.Jets moved to within four points of the third place Vancouver Blazers by advancing their record to 24 wins and 26 losses with their two ties.EDMONTON: Oilers had one of the craziest weeks since the franchise moved to the Northern Alberta city, and when all was finished, they were still in third place one point ahead of the Van-couver Blazers.First, thieves stole over $4,000 worth of equipment from their locker room, including sticks, gloves, jerseys and skates. Before the stuff was recovered the club had plunged into fourth behind Vancouver, and only a 8-4 victory over the touring Toronto Toros saved them from the depths of fourth.But things still do not look good for Edmonton, as their inconsistent play caused them to lose their second straight game to Phoenix Roadrunners at home, a setback in light of their fine play against Toronto which started earlier in the week when they gained a 2-2 tie in Hartford against the New England Whalers.Oilers, while all this was going on, found time to trade their top scorer of last year, Ron Climie, to New England for right winger Tim Sheehy.Climie, who had 38 goals with Edmonton last year, had only 15 in 49 games, and the Oilers undoubtedly liked the look of Sheehy, who scored his 20th goal against them in the 2-2 tie.TORONTO: Toros began the week knowing they had four games against Canadian Division clubs. Coach Bobby Leduc wanted to win three of the four, and that is precisely what they did.A 7-4 victory at the Pacific Coliseum over the Blazers capped a three-game road trip, which saw the Toros take two of three games.&ldquo;Our big trouble is getting goals scored against us,&rdquo; said Leduc. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something we&rsquo;re constantly reminding the players about. We can score goals, there is no doubt about that.&rdquo;VANCOUVER: Blazers slipped out of third place with their loss to Toronto, one which broke a five-game winning streak and gave them their first loss at home since Jan. 14. Vancouver, who now must start out on a seven-game road trip that could make or break their playoff chances, got a late third period goal from former Roadrunner Hugh Harris to beat Phoenix 5-4 and extend their winning streak to five. Against the Toros, they didn&rsquo;t hit anybody and Toronto bombed Don McLeod for the seven goals.QUEBEC: Bob Leduc, Toros coach, probably said it best about the way Les Nordiques are burning up the WHA.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve won nine of our last 13 games, and I&rsquo;m sure we&rsquo;re losing ground to them.&rdquo;More descriptive words have never been spoken. Nordiques, who spent the whole week on the road, came up with three victories, including impressive performances over Phoenix and Minnesota.<h2>WHA Leaders</h2>(Including Sun. Feb. 23)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02192/3527129-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="590" height="560"></div> &#9632;

f0026-01

Hat Trick Gives Hull 50 Goals In As Many Games

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03156/3527174-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="548" height="688"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARC TARDIF Quebec Nordiques</figcaption></div>Quebec City certainly does seem to appeal to Marc Tardif.Since coming to the Nordiques from the Michigan Stags, now the Baltimore Blades, Tardif has sparked the club to a solid hold on first place in the Canadian Division.He scored the game-winner and added two assists in 6-4 win over San Diego and had the hat trick in 10-4 loss to Houston.His point total now stands at 67 on 38 goals and 29 assists.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04119/3527167-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="509" height="620"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM WISTE Indianapolis Racers</figcaption></div>The Racers have certainly not been living up to their name this season as they continue to stall in the Eastern Division cellar.However if 29-year-old Jim Wiste can continue his pace of the past week the Racers could be taking the checkered flag in the near future.He had a goal and two assists in 6-0 shutout against Cleveland, a goal and an assist in 6-5 loss to Chicago and two goals and an assist in 5-2 win over Minnesota. &#9632;

f0026-03

WHA’s Stars of the week

<div class="byline">BY RICH PASSAN</div>HARTFORD&mdash;It was a matter of addition by subtraction and it could possibly lead to the World Trophy throneroom.The New England Whalers had one to many right winners and not enough left wingers, so it was natural they could work out a trade with a club that needed help on the right side. Such a team was the Edmonton Oilers. They had a left winger named Ron Climie who was not having a good season. His goal production had slipped from 37 to 15. Candidate No. 1.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01225/3527205-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="270" height="436"><figcaption class="caption-body">Garry Swain</figcaption></div>The Whalers had five right wingers. Edmonton general manager Bill Hunter liked what he saw of young Tim Sheehy. Candidate No. 2.Next step: Serious trade talks between Hunter and New England GM Jack Kelley. They both liked the deal and now Climie is free of Hunter and ready to make life miserable again for the rest of the WHA.The Oilers aren&rsquo;t getting a bad hockey player in return, though. Sheehy, a native of International Falls, Minn., has been around the WHA for three seasons and is considered by many to be one of the best American-born players in professional hockey today. He scored 21 goals for the Whalers before the trade.&ldquo;We, think they are both excellent hockey players,&rdquo; said N.E. coach Ron Ryan.&rdquo;It wasn&rsquo;t that we were&rsquo;actually hurting at left wing, although that isn&rsquo;t our strongest position. We just had a hard time getting five right wingers on the ice.&ldquo;We had them playing on the left wing at times. We had Sheehy there and it was a disaster. Getting Climie will give us a chance to get our lines settled down.&rdquo;Climie arrives at a time when the left side appears settled. Don Blackburn has been playing steady hockey and the return of Al Karlander has eased some of the problems on the port side. And John French can be counted on to provide some spark.Where the Whalers have been hurting some is at center ice with Terry Caffery unable to shake loose from a chronic groin injury. Garry Swain has been filling in and. according to Ryan, has been &ldquo;playing very well, which is pleasing, but not surprising.&rdquo;The Whalers also beefed up their goaltending corps by luring Bruce Landon out of retirement. Landon, who retired rather than be sent to the minors at the beginning of the season, changed his mind and now is between the pipes at Cape Cod of the North American League.When he is ready, he&rsquo;ll probably be recalled to back up Al Smith. Regular spare netminder Christer Abrahamsson finally underwent knee surgery after avoiding it for a couple of months.CHICAGO: The Cougars got off to a good start in the 1975 portion of their schedule, but have nose-dived terribly after the first seven games.After a 4-2-1 getaway, the Cougars won but two of their next 15 outings and dropped 11 points behind the Cleveland Crusaders in their race for second place in the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s East Division and a playoff spot.The only consistent performers for the struggling Chicago icers have been Gary MacGregor. Frankie Rochon and Mark Lomenda, who comprise what Cougar fans are calling the Kid Line. At one point recently, they scored all eight Chicago goals in a four-game stretch.Player-coach-owner Whitey Stapleton has been confined to strictly bench coaching by neck and shoulder mise-ries. If he is unable toplay the rest of the season, the Cougars are in trouble.CLEVELAND: The Crusaders gained a big victory over the Cougars Feb. 12 then came back two nights later with another triumph over San Diego to move 13 points up on third-place Chicago.But the C&rsquo;s, who have been having their problems on the road during the second half of the schedule, dropped a 5-1 decision in Winnipeg, while Chicago was beating Baltimore.Gerry Cheevers appeared to have regained his old form, logging a 2.40 goals-against average in 12 games after posting a 3.65 GAA in his first 22.Richie Leduc was the hottest Crusader with a seven-game scoring streak until the Jets stopped him. He was 47-11 during that span. Also hot was Al McDonough, who pumped in 10 goals in 10 games.INDIANAPOLIS&mdash;The Racers trimmed their bulky roster by shipping rookie center iceman Jacques Locas, property of the Cincinnati Stingers, to the Stingers&rsquo; farm club at Hampton of the Southern League; defenseman Ralph Hopiavuori and left winger Rich Pumple to Roanoke Valley of the same league, and veteran defenseman Roger Cote home to Garson. Ont. with shoulder problems.The Racers, in order to avoid setting a couple of dubious WHA records for futility, must win 15 of their final 25 games. If they do, they will miss winning the fewest number of games in one season. The old Los Angeles Sharks won just 25 last season. &#9632;

f0027-01

Whalers Swap Sheehy For Climie As ‘Title Insurance’

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-25" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-2514/3527456-1-eng-US/f0028-252.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0028-25

WHA Scoreboard

<div class="byline">BY DOUG McCONNELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0567/3527487-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="563" height="1791"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARY Mac GREGOR&hellip;Productive Rookie</figcaption></div>ST. PAUL&mdash;Wayne Connelly fired his 23rd and 24th goals of the season and set up two others to lead the Minnesota Fighting Saints to a 5-2 decision over the San Diego Mariners to both end a four-game Minnesota losing streak and regain third place in the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s Western Division from San Diego.Mike Walton, the defending WHA scoring champion from Minnesota, fired his 34th goal of the season against San Diego. Minnesota goalie John Garrett kicked out 34 shots for his 22nd victory.One of the losses was a 7-3 whipping in St. Paul by the Canadian Division powerhouse Quebec Nordiques. Steve Sutherland, known more for his fistic prowess than as a scorer, struck for three goals and Serge Bernier, to no one&rsquo;s surprise, collected three assists.The Saints sold left wing Billy Gold-thorpe to the Baltimore Blades for an undisclosed purchase price. He had been under suspension for a month for refusing to report to Johnstown in the North American Hockey League. Goldthorpe started the season with Syracuse of the American League but suffered a series of injuries and saw little action. His play with the Saints was limited to three playoff games in which he collected no points but had 25 penalty minutes.HOUSTON: The Houston Aeros can skate with any team in the National Hockey League, says their coach Bill Dineen.&ldquo;Every week I look at the rosters in the NHL and try to assess them against our club,&rdquo; said the coach of the World Hockey Association defending champion Aeros. &ldquo;I firmly believe that we&rsquo;re one of the top five teams in professional hockey today.&rdquo;The Aeros lead the Western Division of the WHA by eight points over the surprising expansion team, the Phoenix Roadrunners and are tied with the Canadian Division leaders, the Quebec Nordiques for most points, 72. although Quebec has played one less game and accumulated one less loss.Like the Nordiques, the Aeros have had much success on the road.The Aeros, with some spectacular goaltending by Ron Grahame, defeated the Minnesota Fighting Saints 3-1 in St.&rdquo; Paul for their fifth consecutive road victory for a 19-9-0 road record. Quebec is 16-10-0.The victory was the 22nd, and club record 14th road victory for Grahame who stopped 33 shots and regained the WHA goaltending lead from Gary Kurt of Phoenix by reducing his average to 2.73.The Aeros left it to the Howe family in a 5-2 win at Baltimore. The three Howes accounted for seven points. Mark had a goal and three assists, Gordie a goal and assist and Marty an assist.BALTIMORE: Chicago Cougars&rsquo; brilliant rookie Gary MacGregor scored his 30th and 31st goals of the season in a 5-3 victory over the Baltimore Blades.The loss was the sixth straight on home ice since the World Hockey Association team moved from Detroit. The Blades are winless in 11 of their 12 games since the name change from the Michigan Stags. Their lone victory was a surprise upset at Houston.Alton White, the only black in the World Hockey Association, scored a goal in each of his first three games since being called up from the Syracuse Blazers.Andre Lacroix scored his 27th goal and added two assists as the San Diego Mariners blitzed the Blades 6-1 to tie the WHA record by scoring in his 16th consecutive game. He later broke the record.PHOENIX: Cam Connor was knocked out of the lineup for at least six weeks with a broken ankle as the Roadrunners rode to their fourth win against one loss and a tie with the Edmonton Oilers.Connor broke his ankle when tripped in the first period in the final regular season meeting between the two clubs this season, won 5-4 by Phoenix.Jack Norris was in the nets for both victories and the tie in the three games in Edmonton plus one of the victories over the Oilers in Phoenix.The veteran goaltender was invited not to attend training camp this season, was traded to Indianapolis but evoked a no-trade clause in his contract and finally a greed to joint the Roadrunners.The Roadrunners are still solidly in second place in the WHA&rsquo;s Western Division despite a pair of home-ice losses to the Quebec Nordiques, 5-4 in overtime on Steve Sutherland&rsquo;s goal, and 5-3 in a skating lesson.Connor, the Roadrunners&rsquo; budding rookie star who had recently been praised by coach Sandy Hucul for his improving play, had nine goals and 19 assistsJim Wells, vice-president of the Roadrunners, made a little news with an offer of $2 million for Houston&rsquo;s Go Go Line, which was first formed with the Roadrunners&rsquo; Western Hockey League team in 1969-70.Wells reported Aero president and general manager Jim Smith&rsquo;s reaction: &ldquo;Jim just smiled. I said $3 million and Jim just smiled even bigger.&rdquo;SAN DIEGO: Andre Lacroix has one record, matched another and is closing in on the World Hockey Association point lead on his 1975 hot streak.The slick little San Diego Mariners&rsquo; center has scored points in 18 consecutive games, surpassing the record of 16, set by Terry Caffery of the New England Whalers from Dec. 7, 1972, through Jan. 13, 1973.Lacroix has also scored assists in 12 consecutive games, tying the record Caffery set, Dec. 11, 1972, through Dec 31.1972.Caffery scored 31 points during his streak (12 goals, 19 assists) but Lacroix has 41 (11 goals, 30 assists) in his 18-game run. Lacroix fell one game short of Caffery&rsquo;s points record on an earlier hot streak.The stepped-up production has moved Lacroix into a tie for second in the WHA scoring race with Quebec&rsquo;s Serge Bernier. They have 89 points apiece and are four behind Winnipeg&rsquo;s Bobby Hull.Lacroix already owns several WHA records, including: most points, WHA lifetime, 235; most points, one season, 124 (50goals and 74 assists), in 1972-73; most assists, one season, 80, in 1973-74.Lacroix has 61 assists for the lead in that category this season. Ulf Nilsson of Winnipeg is second with 59.The Mariners&rsquo; 5-2 defeat at Minnesota was only their second in six games but dropped them back to fourth place, one point behind the Fighting Saints.One of the Mariners&rsquo; most recent victories was a surprise 9-2 shelling of the powerful Quebec Nordiques.One of the Nordiques two goals was on a penalty shot by Rejean Houle, the third successful penalty shot in nine attempts in the WHA this season. San Diego&rsquo;s Norm Ferguson had missed on one against Winnipeg two weeks earlier. &#9632;

f0029-05

Rebounding Fighting Saints Grab Third Spot; Aeros Can Skate With Any NHL Team-Dineen

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div>BUFFALO&mdash;Gary Bromley, who has had quite an impressive season for a rookie goaltender is the National Hockey League, finally got the Buffalo fans on his side one&rsquo; Thursday night in February.On that night Buffalo played Boston in a key Adams Division game in Buffalo&rsquo;s Memorial Auditorium. Bromley goaled the Sabres to a 3-1 victory which put his club nine points ahead of the Bruins and caused Boston coach Don Cherry to say, afterward, &ldquo;It will be very hard to catch Buffalo now. This was the most important game we played this year&rdquo;.Bromley, the 150-pound. slender. 25-year-old known to his teammates as Bonesy, received the first star award for his efforts&mdash;the first time this season he received such an honor at home&mdash;and when he skated out the usual capacity crowd of 15,863 gave forth a thunderous ovation.This was something new to Bonesy. He is more used to jeers than cheers in Memorial Auditorium. Although he has posted one of the best won-lost-tied records in the NHL throughout the season, he has let in goals the fans didn&rsquo;t think he should and they let him know it.Usually the goals would come after Buffalo had built up a lead and the game was secured but sometimes they came early.This hasn&rsquo;t been an easy season for Bromley. The pressure has been on ever since training camp. When Dave Dryden left the Sabres for the World Hockey Association&mdash;where he&rsquo;s now part owner of the Chicago Cougars as well as their goaltender&mdash;Punch Imlach. the Sabres&rsquo; general manager, announced. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going with the kids in goal this year. We have to find out what they can do&rdquo;.The kids meant Bromley and Rocky Farr, who goaled the Sabres&rsquo; Cincinnati farm team to the American League&rsquo;s Calder Cup in 1972-73, Last season they both moved back and forth between Buffalo and Cincinnati, as the Sabres encountered all sorts of misfortunes.Roger Crozier, in and out of the hospital four times because of pancreatitis last season, didn&rsquo;t figure in Punch&rsquo;s plans. And just before training camp. Roger went back in for treatment. He missed the entire camp.Bromley and Farr were the only goalies with NHL potential and they knew they had to carry the load. Farr was hurt and Bromley wasn&rsquo;t impressive. Punch announced the Sabres were looking for help in goal.They got it from an unexpected source. Crozier came back. And. after a while, he played some fine games. But he had spells of illness and couldn&rsquo;t be counted upon.When the Sabres attempted to finish a sweep of the season series against Montreal in the final game in Buffalo, Corzier started although he had been sidelined by a bruised toe. After two periods, with the score 3-3. Bromley took over. He gave up a goal but made some great saves as the Sabres pulled out a 4-4 tie.Then came games against Pittsburgh and the big one against Boston on successive nights. Skinny Bonesy played them both, a tie and a victory. That gave him a won-24 lost-8 tied-7 record, 55 points of a possible 78. About as good as any goaltender in the league.ICE CHIPS: Next time out after the victory over Boston, the Sabres extended their unbeaten streak to seven games but the fans weren&rsquo;t too happy because Smitty&rsquo;s skaters ran up a 34) lead in the first 15 minutes and then got only a 4-4 tie with the St. Louis Blues. Bromley played that game, too.Jim Lorentz, who had filled in for Gil Pereault when the super center was out 12 games because of a strained knee, and who took over for Peter McNab, Rick Dudley and Brian Spencer when they were hurt, suffered a 57-stitch cut on his head in the Boston game and was knocked out of action himself.Rick Martin tied Rene Robert&rsquo;s club record by scoring in seven straight games when he got his 34th goal of the season against St. Louis.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01209/3527518-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="513" height="573"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARY BROMLEY&hellip;Stopped Bruins</figcaption></div>The Sabres became the first club in the NHL to clinch a playoff berth the day they tied St. Louis. They had it before they started the game, however, as the California Golden Seals lost to Minnesota in the afternoon and there after could not overtake Buffalo. &#9632;

f0030-01

Rookie Goaler Bromley Turns Buffalo Jeers To Cheers

<div class="byline">BY HANS TANNER</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaNEW HAVEN&mdash;Rick Kessell says he&rsquo;d rather set up a goal than score one.But he&rsquo;ll have to admit there&rsquo;s one goal he&rsquo;s after-another chance to play with the California Seals of the National Hockey League.Considering the seeming lack of rapport between Kessell and the Seals, that comes as somewhat of a surprise.After spending all of last season with the Seals, he isn&rsquo;t even with their farm club in Salt Lake City now. He&rsquo;s on loan to the New Haven Nighthawks of the American Hockey League.And the Nighthawks are thankful he&rsquo;s here.If all of that seems confusing, it is&hellip;and to Kessell. too, who has a lot to scratch his head about when it comes to pro hockey.Although he didn&rsquo;t join New Haven until 15 games into the season, he&rsquo;s the club&rsquo;s leading scorer and at the rate he scored points through his first 42 games, he would have been third in the AHL scoring race had he been there from the start.After a league-leading 66 assists (and 26 goals) in only 53 games with the OshawaJuniors(where FredO&rsquo;Donnell and Philadelphia&rsquo;s Bob Kelly were his linemates). Kessell was Pittsburgh&rsquo;s second draft pick in 1969.&ldquo;I think Red Kelly (the Penguins&rsquo; coach) like Michel Briere better&hellip;he played his type of game.&rdquo; Kessell says. &ldquo;Besides, he deserved to be in Pittsburgh and I probably didn&rsquo;t have a real good training camp.&rdquo;Kessell went to Baltimore of the AHL, never played on a set line and had 15 goals and 21 assists in 52 games. Amarillo, Tex., of the Central League was home most of the 1970-71 season and Kessell had 31 goals and 38 assists.&ldquo;It was a good year personally, but it was a long year because we were last from start to finish. I wondered why I never was called up when so many other guys went up, but I was with Pittsburgh for only six games and didn&rsquo;t play much.&rdquo;It was back tothe AHL with Hershey in 1971-72 and the 5&rsquo; 10&rdquo;. 175-pounder had 24 goals and 19 assists in 54 games before he suffered a separated shoulder in February.In 1972-73, it finally happened. He made the NHL with Pittsburgh.&ldquo;The big knock against me was my defensive play, so what did they have me do in Pittsburgh? Right, kill penalties. 1 couldn&rsquo;t figure it out. In fact, that&rsquo;s about all I did.&rdquo;He wound up with the Seals last year as the result of the reverse draft, and again penalty killing was his main job.&ldquo;I was just getting a chance to play regularly when 1 broke my leg about the first of February.&rdquo;How did he wind up in New Haven?&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a good question. I thought I had a good camp with the Seals. I played two exhibitions with them and had a couple of assists, then they told me to go play a game with Salt Lake City to help them out against the Los Angeles Kings. 1 had a goal and two assists and we tied them 5-5.1 never did get back to the Seals.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what happened.&rdquo; Kessell says. &ldquo;I was sort of bitter about the whole thing, but what can you do? I played five or six league games and had five or six points, then all of a sudden I sat out four games in a row. Then came the phone call telling me I was being loaned to New Haven.&ldquo;I was going from a first-place club to a last-place one and traveling three-quarters of the way across the country. 1 was pretty upset&hellip;I didn&rsquo;t know what to do at the time, but I didn&rsquo;t really have a choice.&ldquo;My main concern is to have a good cpatinn and do what I ran tn help NEW Haven make the playoffs I don&rsquo;t think the league is settle we should give springfield a good run for fourth. If we get a little more help on our defensive game, we&rsquo;ll be all right.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d still like to play for California and I think I can play there. I still don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ve had a good shot at it.&rdquo;The Nighthawks&rsquo; hopes suffered a stunning reversal here Feb. 14. After spotting Syracuse a goal. New Haven grabbed a 3-1 lead after 15&frac12; minutes and seemed on the way. But the Eagles scored four goals in the second period and one in the third for a 6-3 victory.The loss was only the second for rookie goalis Brian Holdemess. Former New Haven-goallie Lyle Carter had 47 saves for Syracuse.And the defeat followed a big 6-3 victory over Nova Scotia, only the second win in nine meetings for the Nigh-thawks. Walt Ledingham had a goal and three assists for coach Dean Prentice&rsquo;s team.Tom Colley and Holdemess were the heroes in a 5-2 victory over Hershey on the 16th. Colley had two goals and two assists and Holdemess was outstanding in goal as the Bears outshot New Haven 41-31<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01189/3527580-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="574" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body">DOUG GIBSON&hellip;On Scoring Binge</figcaption></div>SPRINGFIELD: Inability to handle the Providence Reds continues to cost the Indians. After running their record to five wins, a loss and two ties in their last eight games by winning 4-2 in Syracuse and thumping Nova Scotia 7-3 in Springfield, the Indians ran into their jinx club and lost again.Providence grabbed a 6-3 victory Feb. 15 to make it eight straight meetings this season without a Springfield victory. The Reds have won five and tied three.Coach Ron Stewart just shakes his head when he figures how well off his club would be with a split in the points. The Indians would have five more points and be challenging Rochester for third instead of struggling to stay ahead of fifth-place New Haven.Bob Poffenroth scored his 24th goal of the season Feb. I4to surpass his total number of goals for his first three seasons of pro hockey.&ldquo;I figured at the start of the season we&rsquo;d need 84 points to get into the playoffs in our division.&rdquo; Stewart said, and I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ll be too far off. It&rsquo;s funny, here we are fighting to make the playoff in our division, but if we were in the other one. we&rsquo;d be four points in first place right now&rdquo;.Attendance continued holding up fairly well as 3,947 and 3,475 watched the back-to-back games against Nova Scotia and Providence.ROCHESTER: Doug Gibson was still hot in the scoring department as he scored eight goals and five assists during a five-game stretch from Feb. 7 through the 16th. Not just coincidentally, the Amerks were unbeaten for those five games, winning three and tying two as they began another run at Nova Scotia in second place.Gibson had a goal (the winner) and three assists in a 5-4 overtime victory over New Haven on the 7th, the tying goal in a 2-2 tie with Springfield on the 9th, the tying goal with 29 seconds left in a 4-4 standoff in Providence on the 12th, the game-winning goal and two assists in a 7-2 romp over Virginia on the 14th and three goals, including the winner in an important 5-4 decision over the Voyageurs in Nova Scotia on the 16th.He reached the 30-goal and 50-assist marks in the Feb. 14 game.Coach Dick Mattiussi was happily stunned by the ties in Providence. His club trailed 4-2 with lees than two minutes to play. Ron Garwasiuk scored at 18:29 and Gibson at 19.31.It was feared Garwasiuk had broken a knuckle or two during a fight with Dennis Polonich of Virginia on the 14th, but they were only bruised. Polonich lost a tooth and had another split in the scrap.One of the features of that game was the two-man shortage the Amerks survived with only one shot on goal. Two Amerks were sent of at the same time and Gibson, Al Simmons and Mike Milbury held the Wings off. with goalie Bob Sneddon making a fine stop on Ted Snell for his only save of the two minutes. Sneddon has a 14-5-1 record this season.And it was the first time Rochester ever beat goalie Doug Grant. He was 4-0-1 in Rochester and 1-0-1 in Virginia over three seasons.NOVA SCOTIA: Recalls and minor injuries continued to cause coach Al MacNeil to do plenty of lineup switching. With Guy Lafleur lost to the parent Montreal Canadiens. the Vees lost Ron And ruff (26 goals and 25 assists) to the big club for awhile.Goalie Ed Walsh finally seemed to be showing the affects of playing a long string of games as he yielded 22 goals in four games. When Walsh stepped between the pipes against Rochester on the 16th, it was his 31st straight game since Dave Elenbaas was injured in a Dec. 9 exhibition game while playing with the Montreal Juniors against a Russian team. Elenbaas may be back in the nets by the time this reaches print.Nova Scotia trailed Hershey 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before taking a 5-4 victory at home on the 13th. Then the Vees lost 7-3 in Springfield on the 14th and 5-4 before a crowd of 3,843 at home on the 16th. &#9632;

f0031-01

Bewildered Kessell Still Aiming For Shot With Seals

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Wed. Feb. 26)<h3>NORTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01191/3527660-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="588" height="172"></div><h3>SOUTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02136/3527653-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="591" height="202"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Feb. 18Springfield 5 at Syracuse 7.Wed. Feb. 19Springfield 2 at Hershey 2; Rochester 0 at New Haven 2; Syracuse 2 at Virginia 5.Thu. Feb. 20Richmond 1 at Nova Scotia 4; New Haven 2 at Springfield 6.Fri. Feb. 21Richmond 1 at New Haven 6; Nova Scotia 2 at Providence 6; Rochester 6 at Syracuse 2; Hershey 3 at Virginia 3.Sat. Feb. 22Virginia 0 at Hershey 4; Providence 6 at Springfield 5.Sun. Feb. 23New Haven 1 at Nova Scotia 5; Springfield 5 at Providence 6; Hershey 3 at Syracuse 3: Rochester 1 at Virginia 3.<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Wed. Feb. 26Rochester at Hershey; New Haven at Providence.Thu. Feb. 27Rochester at Richmond: Providence at Nova Scotia; Virginia at Syracuse.Fri. Feb. 28Syracuse at New Haven; Providence at Rochester; Hershey at Springfield; Richmond at Virginia.Sat. Mar. 1Syracuse at Hershey; Virginia at Richmond; New Haven at Springfield.Sun. Mar. 2Springfield at Nova Scotia; Hershey at Rochester; New Haven at Providence.Wed. Mar. 5Richmond at Hershey; Providence at New Haven; Rochester at Springfield; Syracuse at Virginia.Thu. Mar. 6Providence at Nova Scotia; Hershey at Syracuse; New Haven at Rochester.Fri. Mar. 7Rochester at Providence; Springfield at Virginia<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Feb. 25)<h3>NORTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0386/3527646-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="586" height="149"></div><h3>SOUTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0456/3527639-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="589" height="174"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Feb. 17Denver 3 at Seattle 5.Tue. Feb. 18Omaha 2 at Fort Worth 5.Web. Feb. 19Fort Worth 5 at Oklahoma City 6; Tulsa 2 at Denver 2.Thu. Feb. 20Tulsa 4 at Seattle 3.Fri. Feb. 21Salt Lake 4 at Dallas 2; Oklahoma City 3 at Denver 4; Forth Worth 5 at Omaha 3.Sat. Feb. 22Denver 1 at Dallas 4; Omaha 1 at Oklahoma City 8; Tulsa 4 at Seattle 5.Sun. Feb. 23Salt Lake 6 at Oklahoma City 2; Tulsa 1 at Omaha 3.<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tue. Feb. 25Tulsa at Dallas.Wed. Feb. 26Seattle at Omaha.Thu. Feb. 27Seattle at Salt Lake. &bull;Fri. Feb. 28Dallas at Fort Worth; Seattle at Oklahoma City; Denver at Tulsa.Sat. Mar. 1Seattle at Dallas; Tulsa at Fort Worth; Denver at Oklahoma City; Salt Lake at Omaha.Sun. Mar. 2Oklahoma City at Dallas; Fort Worth at Tulsa.Mon. Mar. 3Denver at Salt Lake.Tue. Mar. 4Seattle at Oklahoma City.Wed. Mar. 5Seattle at Tulsa.Fri. Mar. 7Dallas at Oklahoma City; Fort Worth at Tulsa; Denver at Omaha; Seattle at Salt Lake.Sat. Mar. 8Omaha at Dallas; Tulsa at Oklahoma City.Sun. Mar. 9Fort Worth at Omaha.<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Wed. Feb. 26)<h3>NORTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0535/3527632-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="591" height="206"></div><h3>SOUTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0624/3527625-1-eng-US/f0032-062.jpg" title="f0032-06" width="598" height="172"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Web. Feb. 19Des Moines 3 at Columbus 4;Port Huron 2 at Saginaw 4;Fort Wayne 2 at Dayton 3.Fri. Feb. 21Toledo 4 at Fort Wayne 2;Kalamazoo 0 at Muskegon 5;Saginaw 4 at Flint 3;Columbus 6 at Port Huron 2.Sat. Feb. 22Columbus 1 at Fort Wayne 6;Saginaw 4 at Muskegon 5;Flint 0 at Port Huron 2;Toledo 3 at Dayton 4;Des Moines 2 at Kalamazoo 2.Sun. Feb. 23Fort Wayne 4 at Columbus 1;Toledo 4 at Flint 5;Muskegon 2 at Saginaw 8;Des Moines 4 at Dayton 1.<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Wed. Feb. 26Fort Wayne at Des Moines; Kalamazoo at Port Huron; Columbus at Toledo.Fri. Feb. 28Port Huron at Des Moines; Muskegon at Kalamazoo.Sat. Mar. 1Flint at Muskegon; Port Huron at Des Moines; Columbus at Saginaw; Fort Wayne at Dayton.Sun. Mar. 2Dayton at Fort Wayne; Toledo at Columbus: Saginaw at Flint; Port Huron at Kalamazoo; Des Moines at MuskegonWed. Mar. 5Des Moines at Fort Wayne; Columbus at Dayton; Kalamazoo at Toledo; Port Huron at Saginaw.Fri. Mar. 7Dayton at Port Huron; Columbus at Flint; Kalamazoo at Des Moines; Fort Wayne at Toledo.Sat. Mar. 8Toledo at Muskegon; Kalamazoo at Des Moines: Dayton at Port Huron; Flint at Saginaw.<h2>NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Wed. Feb. 26)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0717/3527618-1-eng-US/f0032-072.jpg" title="f0032-07" width="584" height="248"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Feb. 17Syracuse 4 at Philadelphia 5.Wed. Feb. 19Long Island 7 at Cape Codders 5, Mohawk Valley 8 at Maine 4; Philadelphia 2 at Syracuse 7.Thu. Feb. 20Cape Codders 3 at Philadelphia 4.Fri. Feb. 21Long Island 3 at Mohawk Valley 6. Syracuse 1 at Johnstown 8; Maine 2 at Broome 8Sat. Feb. 22Mohawk Valley 3 at Syracuse 10; Long Island 1 at Johnstown 3, Cape Codders 1 at Maine 3.Sun.Feb.23Syracuse 4 at Mohawk Valley 4; Philadelphia 2 at Cape Codders 2; Johnstown 2 at Long Island 4<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Wed. Feb. 26Cape Codders at Broome; Maine at Syracuse; Mohawk Valley at Long Island; Philadelphia at Johnstown.Fri. Feb. 28Cape Codders at Johnstown; Maine at Mohawk Valley; Broome at Syracuse; Philadelphia at Long IslandSat. Mar. 1Cape Codders at Mohawk Valley: Maine at Johnstown.Sun. Mar. 2Cape Codders at Syracuse. Mohawk Valley at BroomeTue. Mar. 4Johnstown at Maine; Cape Codders at Broome; Philadelphia at Long Island.Wed. Mar. 5Johnstown at Cape Codders; Broome at Mohawk Valley; Maine at Syracuse; Long Island at Philadelphia.Fri. Mar. 7Syracuse at Long Island; Mohawk Valley at Maine; Broome at Johnstown. Cape Codders at PhiladelphiaSat. Mar. 8Aroome at Johnstown; Syracuse at Maine; Mohawk Valley at Cape Codders.Sun. Mar. 9Cape Codders at Long Island: Philadelphia at Mohawk Valley.Tue. Mar. 11Syracuse at Broome.Wed. Mar. 12Mohawk Valley at Johnstown. Cape Codders at Syracuse; Maine at Long Island<h2>SOUTHERN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 24)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0814/3527611-1-eng-US/f0032-082.jpg" title="f0032-08" width="586" height="174"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Feb. 18Winston-Salem 3 at Charlotte 8: Hampton 3 at Roanoke 5.Wed. Feb. 19Roanoke 5 at Greensboro 8.Thu. Feb. 20Winston-Salem 4 at Hampton 2.Fri. Feb. 21Roanoke 4 at Charlotte 6; Winston-Salem 6 at Grennsboro7.,Sun. Feb. 23Roanoke 5 at Greensboro 7; Winston-Salem 4 at at Charlotte 5.<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Mon. Feb. 24Charlotte at Hampton.Tue. Feb. 25Roanoke at Winston-Salem.Thu. Feb. 27Roanoke at Hampton; Greensboro at Winston-Salem.FRI. Feb. 28Charlotte at Roanoke.Sat. Mar. 1Greensboro at Roanoke.Sun. Mar. 2Charlotte at Greensboro: Hampton at Winston-SalemMon. Mar. 3Roanoke at Hampton.Tue. Mar. 4Hampton at Greensboro; Charlotte at Winston-Salem.Wed. Mar. 5Greensboro at Charlotte. Winston-Salem at Hampton.Thu. Mar. 6Greensboro at Hampton.Fri. Mar. 7Roanoke at Charlotte. &#9632;

f0032-01

LOOKING AT THE MINOR LEAGUE SCOREBOARD

NHL: 1&mdash;Montreal. 2&mdash;Detroit 3&mdash;Boston. 4&mdash;N. Y Rangers 5&mdash;Chicago. 6&mdash;Toronto, 7&mdash;Los Angeles. 8&mdash;Pittsburgh. 9&mdash;California. 10&mdash;Philadelphia. 11&mdash;Minnesota. 12&mdash;St. Louis. 13&mdash;Vancouver. 14&mdash;Buffalo. 15&mdash;N. Y. Islanders. 16&mdash;Atlanta. 17&mdash;Kansas City 18&mdash;Washington.WHA; 19&mdash;Cleveland. 20&mdash;San Diego. 21&mdash;Vancouver. 22&mdash;Baltimore. 23&mdash;Toronto 24&mdash;Quebec. 25&mdash;Edmonton. 26&mdash;Houston. 27&mdash;Chicago. 28&mdash;Winnipeg. 29&mdash;Minnesota. 30&mdash;New England. 31&mdash;Indianapolis. 32&mdash;Phoenix. 33&mdash;Cincinnati.Inter-League: 34&mdash;Phoenix (WHA) & Vancouver (NHL). 37&mdash;Minnesota (NHL) & N. Y. isianders (NHL). 39&mdash;St. Louis (NHL). Montreal (NHL) & N. Y.Rangers (NHL). 40&mdash;Pittsburgh (NHL) & Buffalo (NHL). 41&mdash;Boston (NHL) & Washington (NHL). 42&mdash;New England(WHA) & Cleveland (WHA). 48&mdash;N. Y Rangers (NHL)&mdash;Kansas City (NHL). 49&mdash;Chicago (NHL)&mdash;Edmonton (WHA). 50&mdash;Vancouver (NHL). Philadelphia (NHL)&mdash;Atlanta (NHL). 51&mdash;Indianapolis (WHA)&mdash;St. Louis (NHL). 54&mdash;Indianapolis (WHA)&mdash;Toronto (WHA). 55&mdash;Buffalo (NHL). California (NHL)&mdash;Vancouver (WHA). 56&mdash;Winnipeg (WHA). Houston (WHA), Cleveland (WHA), Indianapolis (WHA)&mdash;Phoenix (WHA). 57&mdash;Baltimore (WHA). Quebec (WHA)&mdash;N. Y. Islanders (NHL). 58&mdash;Edmonton (WHA) & N. Y. Rangers (NHL). 59&mdash;Minnesota (WHA) & Pittsburgh (NHL). &#9632;

Minor League Affiliations

PROVIDENCE&mdash;&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t been playing well. We&rsquo;re waiting for things to happen to us instead of making them happen. We&rsquo;re tight right now. We&rsquo;ve got to explode against somebody to get back on the right track.&rdquo;John Muckler was talking 24 hours after his team had been tied by two Rochester goals here in the last minute and 31 seconds. The tie left his Providence Reds with a 1-3-3 record their last seven games and 8-10-3 for 1975 after going 22-3-8 for the 1974 portion of the American Hockey League schedule.It turns out Muckler didn&rsquo;t have to wait long for his wish to come true.Twenty-four hours after making that statement, his skaters went out and piled up an II-I victory over Hershey.They followed that with a 6-3 triumph in Springfield and returned home to spot Virginia a 4-1 lead before roaring back for a 7-5 decision. That&rsquo;s 24 goals in three games.Only 898 fans showed up to see the Rochester game. It was the smallest crowd in the Reds&rsquo; history and the reason for it was nine-inch snowfall that tied up everything.The return of forward Billy MacMillan and defenseman John Bednarski from the parent New York Rangers helped the Reds regain their winning ways.But it was rookie Jerry Holland who produced the biggest offense against Hershey. He scored four goals, giving him 38 for the season as he closed in on the record for a rookie. 42 goals.For Holland, the outburst was the fourth game this season in which he scored three or more goals. He had four in the opener Oct. 11 against Nova Scotia. three Oct. 30 in Syracuse and three Jan. 5 against Virginia. One of his goals against Hershey was his 11th game winner. putting him two short of the AHL record.Defenseman Joe Zanussi had three goals against Hershey and for the four games from the 12th through the 16th had six goals to raise his total to 19.MacMillan had four goals and five assists in the three big victories.Muckler, by the way. has his own suggestion on how the AHL playoffs should be set up. The departure of Baltimore left the AHL with nine teams and the operation of the playoffs up in the air.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d take the top eight teams, regardless of division. Taking today&rsquo;s standings. I would put New Haven in the Southern Division for this purpose and align the team according to points. I&rsquo;d&rsquo; have the first and fourth teams play, and the second and third teams. Then I&rsquo;d take the winners and realign them according to points and have the first most the fourth and the second meet the third.&ldquo;That way you&rsquo;d have a chance of having the two best teams play for the Calder Cup. If we follow the old plan, we&rsquo;ll probably have a team under.500 playing for the Calder Cup,&rdquo; Muckler said. &#9632;

Reds Explode After Outburst By Coach

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaSEATTLE&mdash;Ron Sedlbauer opened up a goal scoring factory, as the Seattle Totems intensified their bid for third place (and the last playoff spot) in the Central League&rsquo;s Northern Division.Rookie left wing Sedlbauer, a 20-year-old from Burlington. Ont., had shown tremendous improvement after a short stay with the parent Vancouver Canucks of the National League. All Ron did the second week of February was score eight goals in four games, including the winning goals in three straight Tote victories, and the tyting goal in another game.They opened the week by rallying on two Sedlbauer goals for a 4-4 home tie with Oklahoma City. Two nights later against the same foes Sedlbauer got a late hat trick, changing a 4-5 deficit into a 7-5 Seattle victory. Ron had the last two Totem tallies in a 3-2 home triumph over Denver. Then he had the winner in a 5-3 game at Omaha.In a rematch at home against Denver, for a change, Sedlbauer didn&rsquo;t score, but Seattle prevailed, 5-3, giving the Totes four straight victories in a five-night span, and they were unbeaten in five starts.The victories at Seattle Center Coliseum stretched the Totems&rsquo; unbeaten streak on home ice to 13 straight games, since a Dec. 13 loss to Salt Lake. And the victory in Omaha broke a 10-game winless streak on the road, since their Jan. 15 trip to Dallas,Coach Orland Kurtenbach&rsquo;s club moved to within five points of third-place Omaha, but the Knights had three games in hand.When Sedlbauer failed to score in the Denver victory, Kurtenbach commented, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s worn out. He&rsquo;s only 20, and he&rsquo;s been playing a lot, killing penalties, as well as playing his regular shift.&rdquo;The victory over Oklahoma City took its toll. Right wings Howie Hughes and Barry Wilcox were lost for the season, Hughes with a shoulder separation that required surgery, and Wilcox with a broken right arm. Defensemen Peter Foico (strained knee ligaments) and Ron Homenuke (strained neck) were also sidelined temporarily. But left wing Larry Gould, who had twisted a knee two nights earlier, returned to duty.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01184/3527753-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="285" height="456"><figcaption class="caption-body">Danny Seguin</figcaption></div>To ease the defensive problems, the Totems brought in two &ldquo;amateurs&rdquo;. One was 35-year-old Mike Donaldson, who has played 14 pro seasons, 12 with Portland&rsquo;s Western League club, which disbanded this season. Mike was reinstated as an amateur, and was playing with several other former Buckaroos on a Portland amateur team. He came up on a five-game pro trial. Les Ircandia was brought up from Des Moines in the International League for the game in Omaha.The start of the Sunday game in Omaha gave no indication the Totems would change their unhappy road habits. Wayne Schaab and John Van Horlick had the Knights in front, 2-0. by 2:36 of the opening period. At that point, Kurtenbach sent Dan Brady into the net to relieve Bruce Bullock. Danny Gloor and Gould had tied the score by midpoint of the first period, and Brady allowed only one more goal, to Schaab early in the second.&rsquo;Paul O&rsquo;Neill retied the score in the middle period, Sedlbauer put in the winner at 6:33 of the third, and Bob Hurlburt added an empty-netter with 17 seconds left. Defenseman Jim Mair scored twice in the victory over Denver, one on a breakaway as he emerged from the penalty box. Andy Spruce, Gloor, and Dave Westner also scored for Seattle.Danny (Digger) Seguin, who had just been honored as CHL Player of the Week, continued his torrid pace with a goal and nine assists in four games. With 62 points, he climbed to third place in the league scoring, only five off the pace.SALT LAKE: The Golden Eagles lost a little glitter, as they dropped three straight games, including one in their own Salt Palace. That 4-2 loss to Oklahoma City broke a string of four straight Eagle victories and 10 games without defeat at the Palace since a Jan. 7 invasion by Omaha. The loss at home was followed by a 3-2 setback in Fort Worth and a loss by the same margin in Dallas.Oklahoma City, down to 11 skaters because of injuries and callups, showed Salt Lake fans a new kind of hockey, icing the puck continually. There were 44 face-offs in the Blazer zone. Rookie goalie Mike Palmateer blanked Salt Lake for 57:55 before John Healey and Lyle Bradley found the net.Salt Lake goalie Ernie Miller had a shutout in Fort Worth for 53:18, but the Texans got three goals in the next 3:20 after their captain, Neil Nicholson, and coach Ed Chadwick had been ejected by referee Greg Madill. Brent Meeke had scored for the Eagles in the first period, and Denis Meloche notched his 30th in the second.It was a fast, close-checking game in Dallas. Ted McAneeley tied the score at 1-1 in the first, and Fred Ahern narrowed the deficit to 2-3 in the second, but the Eagles couldn&rsquo;t score any more.Fortunately for the Eagles, challenging Denver fared just as poorly, and Salt Lake stayed six points ahead in the Northern Division race. The disastrous trip to Texas ran the club&rsquo;s road string to five straight losses, six games without victory since a Feb. 1 game at Omaha.Meloche had two goals, but dropped to a tie for fifth in the CHL scoring race on 59 points. Bob McAneeley was seventh with 55, and Gary Holt eighth with 54.OMAHA: The excitement over a big win in Denver (4-3), and a home triumph over Oklahoma City (3-2), was dimmed when the Knights fell at home to the fourth-place Seattle Totems (75). That gave new coach Aldo Guidolin a.500 week, as Omaha had lost in Forth Worth (3-2). The Knights were nine points back of second-place Denver, and only five in front of Seattle.Backup goalie Hulme made one of his rare starts in Denver, and posted his second victory of the season in the Mile-High City. Guidolin complimented the Knights on &ldquo;a great effort&rdquo;.Against the Blazers the Knights took an early 2-0 lead on goals by Wayne Schaab and Glen Surbey. Bob Law got what proved to he the winning goal at 2:28 of the third, with a 30-foot shot that bounced in off the arm of relief goalie Gordie McRae. The Knights took another early two-goal lead against Seattle, and knocked out the starting goalie for the second straight night. But the Totems came back to win on Ron Sedlbauer&rsquo;s third-period goal, and Bob Hurlburt&rsquo;s empty-netter. Schaab had two goals for Omaha, and John Van Horlick the other.DENVERS: The Spurs, who found lots of trouble on the road in January, were finding it at home in February. They suffered a 3-0 shutout at their own Coliseum at the hands of Dallas and Michel Dumas, then dropped a 4-3 home game against Omaha, before going into Seattle to lose a pair, 3-2 and 5-3.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02134/3527746-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="562" height="594"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON SEDLBAUER&hellip;Eight-Goal Spree</figcaption></div>The club just wasn&rsquo;t scoring with the efficiency shown earlier in the season. Typically, the two top scorers in the CHL collected one lone point in three games. League-leader Mitch Babin was blanked, and Howie Heggedal had one assist. They stayed atop the scoring chart, with 67 and 66 points, respectively.The dismal week gave the Spurs five straight setbacks, and seven games without a victory since they beat Tulsa at home, Feb. 5. The two home losses broke a string of 11 straight without defeat at the Coliseum since bowing to Oklahoma City, Dec. 10. On the road Denver had lost four straight, was winless in 12 games since a Jan. 3 game in Tulsa.Big John Davidson, the goalie who had come down from St. Louis to replace Yves Belanger, was recalled by the Blues, and Belanger stayed up. That threw the goaltending in the lap of Jimmy Watt, who had played in only 17 games this season. Lynn Zimmerman, a 32-year-old veteran, was acquired from Rochester in the American League, but was rusty from non-use with Rochester and the defunct Baltimore club. After Watt suffered three straight losses, Zimmerman lost in the rematch with Seattle.Left wing John Wensink had missed six games, returning to St. Louis for treatment of continuing lower back problems. He had played in only 21 of the Spurs&rsquo; 62 games.TULSA: The Oilers had only two games for the week, but racked up 17 goals. Gene Sobchuk had the hat trick, including two shorthanded goals, in a 9-4 rout of Dallas. Garry Larivierre&rsquo;s two power-play goals sparked an 8-2 blitz of Fort Worth. Both games were at home, but the Oilers then embarked on a five-game road swing.Owner Bobby Gilbert had sold season tickets in his unique &lsquo;&lsquo;6,000 Plan&rdquo; of offering all seats for the low price of $58.50.Larivierre&rsquo;s two tallies broke the Oiler record for most goals in a season by a defenseman. Brian Bowles, now at Oklahoma City, had scored 11 for the 1972-73 Oilers.The only personnel change saw left wing Murray Myers return from the Vancouver Blazers to replace Don Burgess. Don had gone home to move his family into a new house, and the Blazers decided to keep him. Since Myers missed the Dallas game, coach Adam Keller had only nine fowards. Defenseman John Held was tried at left wing. and saw plenty of ice time after Peter Driscoll drew a game misconduct.Right wings Ray DeLonrenzi and Dan Mandryk were expected to be ready in another week. Both had been out with injuries since Jan. 15. DeLorenzi with a broken collarbone and Mandryk with a head injury.Don Liesemer had two goals against Dallas, with Dave Gorman, Mike Hobin, Serge Beaudoin and Don McCulloch also scoring. Gorman, Hobin, Held, Jim Benzelock. Bob Barlow and Dennis Olmstead joined Larivierre in scoring against Fort Worth. After a scoreless first period the Oilers took charge with three goals in 1:16 early in the second, by Benzelock. Gorman and Barlow.The rough Dallas game saw five bouts going on at once midway in the second period. Referee Bob Kilger called 66 minutes in penalties on that one stoppage of play, and could have assessed more. Driscoll got a triple-minor, besides a major and game misconduct, for leaving the penalty box, and Dallas&rsquo; Roger Wilson drew a double minor and game misconduct for leaving his bench. Sobchuk&rsquo;s hot week gave him 53 points, and a ninth-place tie in the CHL scoring. The Oilers had won three straight games, were unbeaten in five, had won five straight at home and hadn&rsquo;t lost in six at the Assembly Center since Omaha invaded Jan. 14.FORT WORTH: Ed Chadwick&rsquo;s Texans snapped out of their four-game winless streak to take a 3-2 home decision over Omaha. But they dropped a 6-4 game in Dallas, came home to beat Salt Lake, 3-2, then suffered an 8-2 trouncing in Tulsa.It took a burst of three goals in 3:20 in the final period to pull out the victory over Salt Lake, as the Texans were fired up by the ejection of coach Ed Chadwick and captain-defenseman Neil Nicholson for long, heated arguments against ref Greg Madill.Denis Andersen broke the shutout bid of Eagle goalie Ernie Miller at 13:18 of the third period. Veteran Vic Venasky tied the score, and Skeeter Teal put in the winning goal at 16:38. All three scores were on screen shots.Ron Kennedy got his league-leading 24th power-play goal to break Peter Donnelly&rsquo;s spell at 9:10 of the final period. but the Oilers had mounted a four-goal lead by then. Mike Kennedy added his 20th goal later, joining Ron (no-relation) and Teal in the Texans&rsquo; 20-goal club.Jim Webster got his 44th assist to stay atop the CHL in that category, but dropped to a fifth-place tie on the league scoring chart at 59 points. Defenseman John Barber hurt a shoulder in the Dallas game.DALLAS: It was a winning week for Bobby Kromm&rsquo;s Black Hawks, in spite of their beating at Tulsa. They had previously won on Michel Dumas&rsquo; 3-0 shutout at Denver and a 6-4 verdict at home against Fort Worth. They returned from the 9-4 setback in Tulsa and skated past Salt Lake, 3-2, at home.Jim Koleff scored twice and Rejean Giroux once in the first period, and the Hawks made their lead stand up, behind Dumas&rsquo; brilliant work in the nets. Bill Orban had joined Koleff and Giroux in scoring at Denver, where Dumas took the league lead in shutouts, with his fourth.Giroux scored for the third straight night, when he chalked up No. 20 in Fort Worth, but his streak was stopped by his brother-in-law. Tulsa goalie Peter Donnelly, the next night. Dave Logan and Dan Hinton kept Dallas in the game in the first period, but the Oilers had a 7-2 lead before Bob Murray and an McKegney scored for the Hawks in the third.After the victory Dumas was called to the parent Chicago Hawks, who sent down goalie Mike Veisor and returned defenseman Randy Holt, the CHL penalty leader. Veisor was the CHL rookie of the year two seasons ago for Dallas.Dallas center Duane Wylie was made an honorary citizen of nearby Wylie, Tex. at the Salt Lake game, which featured the Wylie High School band.OKLAHOMA CITY: Callups and mounting injuries thinned the Blazers to 11 skaters for two weekend games, but the club came up with gutty performances, winning a 4-2 game in Salt Lake, and almost tying in Omaha, where they lost. 3-2. Earlier in Seattle the Blazers had tied, 4-4, and lost, 7-5.Coach Ray Miron had only eight forwards and three defensemen in Salt Lake, seven forwards and four defensemen in Omaha. &ldquo;We had to show them a new kind of hockey,&rdquo; Miron commented. &ldquo;We iced the puck and stalled all night. We had to. That was the only way we could get through those games.&rdquo;The week&rsquo;s troubles began when the Toronto Maple Leafs called up left wing Bob Sykes after the tie in Seattle. Defenseman Mike Ruest reinjured his knee, and was lost for a month with strained ligaments. Defenseman Denis Deslauriers was hurt in the second game at Seattle, and may face knee surgery. Winger Steve Dolloff missed the next two games with a sore knee, and center Scott Garland pulled a groin in Omaha.When the Blazers tried to call up defenseman Curt Walker from Saginaw of the International League, they learned he had a broken hand. Winger Dale Smedsmo and center Paul Daigle, supposedly called up from Hampton in the Southern League, couldn&rsquo;t report because of injuries. Smedsmo was recovering from an ankle injury, and finally headed for Oke City, but Daigle was out with pulled stomach muscles.The week&rsquo;s one bright spot was the play of rookie goalie Mike Palmateer, who signed a pro contract after beating Salt Lake. Toronto announced it would return Sykes, along with brilliant rookie goalie Pierre Hamel, while goalie Gordie McRae went up to the Leafs.Miron was bitter over the lack of a call by referee Bob Killer in Seattle, when Garland was pulled down from behind, and Ron Sedlbauer pounced on the loose puck for the winning goal. A supervisor of officials agreed with Miron that the officiating had cost the Blazers a game.Les Burgess had two late goals in the victory at Salt Lake, and added another in the narrow loss at Omaha.<h2>CHL Leaders</h2><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03104/3527739-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="592" height="705"></div> &#9632;

f0034-01

Rookie Sedlbauer On Scoring Spree As Totems Bid For Final Playoff.

<div class="byline">BY MORLEY HOWE</div>GREEN BAY&mdash;Several modern United States Hockey League records were established during the past week as teams turned the corner into the home stretch.Heading into the final month of a 48-game schedule, Green Bay Bobcats and Thunder Bay Twins are still deadlocked for Northern Division honors while Waterloo Black Hawks hold a slim four-point margin over Sioux City Musketeers in the Southern loop.The top individual team performance of the week belonged to Marquette Iron Rangers as they improved their third place position by scoring impressive victories over Central Wisconsin, Chicago, and Thunder Bay.Green Bay&rsquo;s Cliff Purpur added seven scoring points, including five goals, to increase his league leading scoring pace. Purpur&rsquo;s 46 goals to date leaves him just one short of tying the modern record for most goals in one season, currently held by Thunder Bay&rsquo;s veteran Barry Hogan.Here are the leading USHL scorers:<h2>LEADING SCORES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01172/3527798-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="529" height="907"></div><h2>HOW THEY STAND</h2><h3>UNITED STATES LEAGUE</h3>(Standings on Wed. Feb. 19)<h3>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02144/3527791-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="584" height="178"></div><h3>NORTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03108/3527784-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="577" height="154"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thu. Feb. 13Marquette 9 at Central Wisconsin 4; Copper Country 1 at Thunder Bay 16.Fri. Feb. 14Copper Country 3 at Thunder Bay 6.Sat. Feb. 15Sioux City 4 at Milwaukee 5; Chicago 6 at Marquette 10; Central Wisconsin 2 at Waterloo 7; Green Bay 12 at Copper Country 4.Sun. Feb. 16Sioux City 7 at Green Bay 6; Waterloo 5 at Central Wisconsin 3, Marquette 6 at Thunder Bay 3; Chicago 3 at Copper Country 7. &#9632;

f0035-01

Around The USHL

<div class="byline">BY LEN HOYES</div>For the finest In Hockey Magazines subscribe today to the Hockey Twins: HOCKEY WORLD & HOCKEY PICTORIALFor the same price as a ticket to ONE GAME you can read over 1600 PAGES of outstanding news about Hockey by subscribing today to THE HOCKEY NEWSFLINT&mdash;Who will be rookie of the year in the international Hockey League?The post-season choice to succeed Frank DeMarco of the Des Moines Capitals may be as interesting as the down-to-the-wire races arnong. Muskegon and Flint in the North Division and between Dayton and Columbus in the South.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01152/3527843-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="265" height="426"><figcaption class="caption-body">Denis Desrosiers</figcaption></div>Even at the risk of being accused of provincialism, several clubs have bonafide contenders for the Garry F. Longman Memorial Trophy. For instance. Dayton&rsquo;s Rick Bragnalo and Columbus&rsquo; Mike Powers rank 2-3. respectively. behind Muskegon veteran Gary Ford in the individual scoring derby. Bragnalo already has set a Dayton record for assists (59) by a rookie and Power&rsquo;s 39 goals are tops among IHL yearlings.Flint goaltender Bob Volpe has been at or near the top of the averages all season and. barring a late-season collapse by the Generals, will share the James Norris Memorial Trophy with veteran teammate Merlin Jenner.And freshman defenseman Mike St. Cyr of Flint has an amazing plus-40 in the goals for-against category, a further indication of the Generals&rsquo; prowess on defense.Although the expansion Kalamazoo Wings probably will finish out of the money in the North Division, it won&rsquo;t be the fault of Mike Wanchuk. a 34-goal scorer who should easily top the 40-goal plateau.Another expansion club, the Toledo Goaldiggers, have a worthy candidate in playmaking Jim McCabe, 19 goals and 47 assists. He has a worthy &ldquo;adversary&rdquo; in teammate Jerry Badiuk. a 13-goal scorer as a defenseman.Columbus&rsquo; Al Hiller, nine goals and 48 assists, is another fine selection although he&rsquo;ll probably be overshadowed by Powers.The performances of goalie Mario Lessard, a 2.95 GAA. and forwards Paul Daigle. 25 goals, and Paul Evans&rsquo; 20 goals, can&rsquo;t be overlooked in the success of the Saginaw Gears. Fort Wayne, struggling to escape the South Division cellar, wouldn&rsquo;t be in position to do so without with 27 goals of Doug Gibson.Goalie Jerome Mrazek (3.28 GAA) has been important to Des Moines and Muskegon has received good mileage from Sid Prysunka. 20 goals, and Carlo Ugolini (16). Brian Curtis&rsquo; 21 goals have aided Port Huron.Dayton has other worthy contenders in Tony White. 21 goals, and defenseman Bill Riley (215 PIM). Dwane Byers and Kevin Treacy of Flint. Jim Doyle and Mike Fox of Columbus. Emile Demoissac and Marcel LaBrosse of Des Moines. Glen Ing and Jean-Paul Gilbert of Kalamazoo. Larry Jacques of Port Huron and Michel Laurendeau of Toledo are other freshmen who have done well in the IHL.For some, it&rsquo;s their last season because they&rsquo;ll move up.Taking the rookie of-the-year award with them will be a double honor.COLUMBUS: Mike Powers bagged 39th goal, continued to lead all rookies&hellip;Elgin McCann&rsquo;s two goals were wasted in 6-4 loss at Muskegon where coach Moe Bartoli was ejected&hellip;Owls missed chance to close within two points of idle South leader Dayton.FLINT: Kirk Bowman within two assists of breaking team record of 61&hellip;Ken Tarnow&rsquo;s hat trick guided 9-4 victory over Kalamazoo, assuring Genrals of playoff position&hellip;Larry Gibbons&rsquo; first home-ice goal of season produced overtime 3-2 victory over Port Huron.DES MOINES: Ken Wright&rsquo;s goal earned 1-1tie against Toledo&hellip;Len Ircandia zoomed to league lead with 319 penalty minutes, needed 57 to break league record&hellip;Caps limited to teamrecord 1 i shots on goal in 3-1 setback at Toledo.KALAMAZOO: Newly-arrived Rich Kramp scored three goals, four assists in first three games, including overtime winner in 7-6 triumph over Toledo which snapped Wings&rsquo; six-game losing streak&hellip;Dale Cook scored six goals in six-game stretch.DAYTON: Garth Malarchuk obtained from Kalamazoo when goalie Jim Pettie&rsquo;s injured hand failed to heal properly&hellip;Gems went with only two defensemen for almost 20 minutes after two-team brawl at Toledo, center Dana Johnson filling in as third blueliner.SAGINAW: Rookie goalie Mario Lessard posted fourth shutout with 40 saves in 6-0 triumph at Port Huron&hellip;Jean-Marie Nicol had 96-game penaltyless string ended with tripping infraction at Port Huron&hellip;Dennis Desrosiers first Gear to crack IHL scoring leaders with tie for 16th position although coach Don Perry&rsquo;s club remained North leader&hellip;Gears 28-2-1 in first-goal games.FORT WAYNE: Komets banking on games in hand to overtake Des Moines for final playoff spot in South&hellip;Marty Feschuk&rsquo;s first goal of season earned 2-1 victory at Kalamazoo&hellip;Komets dropped 3-2 decision to Port Huron despite 22-3 shooting edge in second period.MUSKEGON: Mohawks&rsquo; 4-2 edge in six-game road swing helped push within one point of first place&hellip;League scoring leader Gary Ford within point of tallying 100 for sixth time in eightseason IHL career&hellip;Captain Bob Tombari scored two goals in 6-4 victory ever Columbus&hellip;Ford bagged 300th regular-season goal in 586th game.TOLEDO: Paul (The Terrible) Tantardini&rsquo;s second goal in 33 games was winner in 2-0 triumph at Des Moines where goalie Ted Tucker made 30 stops&hellip;Goaldiggers eyeing No. 2 spot in South after 6-1-1 record in eight games&hellip;Attendance averaging 4.041 for 30 home games.PORT HURON: Recently-returned Len Fontaine bagged two goals in five games but went to sidelines with broken thumb, groin injury and flu&hellip;Ray Germain scored hat trick in only 2:52, added fourth goal in 7-5 victory over Muskegon as Flags built four-game winning streak, longest since 1973.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0384/3527836-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="563" height="596"><figcaption class="caption-body">JEAN-MARIE NICOL&hellip;Streak Ends</figcaption></div><h2>IHL Leaders</h2><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02110/3527829-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="592" height="519"></div> &#9632;

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IHL Race For Rookie Honor Wide Open; Goaldiggers Eyeing No. 2 Spot In South

FLINT&mdash;Ken Tarnow probably is the best &ldquo;one legged player&rdquo; in the International Hockey League.He has scored more than half his 19 goals while skating with a broken leg, suffered in Fort Wayne before he was sold to the Flint Generals. Two weeks after his arrival he was still complaining about a leg injury, so X-rays disclosed a broken fibula in his left leg. By that time X-rays disclosed &ldquo;fur&rdquo; around the break.Playing in only 13 games, he already had collected two of the Generals&rsquo; six hat tricks, including a four-goal outburst on Jan. 25 at Saginaw and three goals on Feb. 14 against Kalamazoo. &#9632;

Tarnow Scores On Broken Leg

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div>BOSTON&mdash;Before the customary 15,000 or lookers at Boston Garden, an agonizing two month wait vanished in a 35 second scarlet swirl. When the dust had cleared, the Boston University Terriers were once again he kings of Beanpot.BU rolled over heavily favored Harvard 7-2 to tale the 23rd Beanlot Tournament crown, powered carnivorous forechecking. unconscious back-checking. And Boston-pol opportunism. The Commonwealth Ave. crew thus toppled Bill Cleary&rsquo;s Crimson from undefeated Eastern College Athletic Conference Division one status and avenged a licking by the indentical score exactly two months earlier at Harvard&rsquo;s Wat-Ion Rink.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01142/3527947-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="285" height="440"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jim McMahon</figcaption></div>At 2:55 of the game&rsquo;s second period, [he score was tied. 1-1. At 3:31. it was BU 4. Harvard I and the Crimson never recovered. Junior Bill Buckton struck twice in an eighteen second span, converting a pass from MVP defenseman Vic Stanfield at 2:56 and zipping home a Rick Meagher feed from the backboards at 3:14. Fourth line winger Bob Dudley&rsquo;s backhander trickled through Brian Petrovek&rsquo;s legs after the young Harvard goalie thought he had frozen the puck on his chest at 3:31 to complete the rude Terrier outburst.Petrovek. the best goalie in the East his year, faced an official total of 62 Terrier shots while his counterpart. BU freshman Brian Durocher. stopped 33 of 35 drives. To Harvard&rsquo;s credit, they deserved a few more goals but lost out twice to posts in the third period and twice to point blank Durocher stymies of speedy left wing Dan Bolduc, who found himself alone in front a couple of times in the second period.But there was never any doubt of the outcome, as Mike Fidler. Bill Burlington, and Rick Meagher tallied in the third period before Jim McMahon netted Harvard&rsquo;s second power-play goal of the evening with less than five minutes to play to round out the game&rsquo;s scoring.BU had taken a 1-0 lead into the first intermission when Terry Meagher slapped home a Pete Marzo feed from the left faceoff circle late in the first frame. Jim Thomas got that one back after BU penalty killers Buddy Powers and Jim Glover were caught up ice following an aborted 2-on-1 rush. That was at 1:42 of the second, just before the canine cataclysm.Stanfield, the chubby rearguard and graybeard of the BU sextet, was winning his second MVP designation in three seasons. After netting the winner in round one&rsquo;s 5-3 win over BC. Vic collected two assists against Harward. But he was more in evidence for his defensive role. Few of the speedy Harvards penetrated down left wing, as Stanfield consistently stonewalled them like a Tactical Policeman. He also blocked several shots in front of the net.&ldquo;Well, let me tell you that they made me look pretty silly in our game back at Harvard.&rdquo; he grinned, mopping his brow in the locker room. &ldquo;So I just prayed that they wouldn&rsquo;t go around me tonight&rdquo;.Somebody up there heard him.Jack Parker, the young coach in his first full season at the BU helm, agreed that the three-goal outburst in the second period was the turning point, but elaborated. &ldquo;I think they got a little flustered, but what pleased me most was that we kept our cool, and kept coming at &lsquo;em. We didn&rsquo;t try to sit on it in the third period&rdquo;.Flustered indeed were the Johns, who must have felt plagued by the Furies of February after stringing out a 13-0 divisional mark. Dave Bell and Phelps Swift both hit posts in the third frame as Dame Fortune leered at Harvard&rsquo;s efforts to duplicate Cornell&rsquo;s unbeaten ECAC season of five years ago. The Crimson, however, had also lost a pair of non-conference tilts and saw their mark slip to 15-3 overall.BU emerged 17-4-1 overall, but due to a 5-3 loss at Colgate the previous Saturday were unable to grab top spot along with Harvard. At 15-2. they must hope for another loss somewhere along the way for the 13-1 Harvards in order to gain a shot at top playoff seed.With the tourney title, the Beanpot Trophy&mdash;now renamed the Eddie Powers Trophy in honor of the late Boston Garden president&mdash;returns to BU for the fifth time in six seasons. Overall, BU has won it nine times. BC eight, and Harvard six.Northeastern, the only team never to win all the beans, kept their playoff hopes alive by dumping Boston College 5-3 in the consolation match. NU&rsquo;s winning goal came on a slap shot by right wing Joe Fidler.The Huskies, humiliated by Harvard 9-0 in the opener a week prior, raised their league mark to 8-9-1 and the overall slate to 12-9-2. BC was pushed close to mathematical elimination with the loss, making them 8-13-2 overall and 5-10-2 divisionally.And they&rsquo;re already talking about next year&rsquo;s February classic&mdash;with BU-Harvard and BC-Northeastern as the first round pairing. If someone finds a way to enlarge the old CausewayStreet House of Magic, as Eddie Powers used to call it. to 24,000 fans, then expect many Bostoniams to be on hand for the 24th quadrangular college hockey festival.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02109/3527940-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="562" height="618"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILL BUCKTON&hellip;Fired Two Goals</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0379/3527933-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="553" height="610"><figcaption class="caption-body">VIC STANFIELD&hellip;Tourney MVP Again</figcaption></div><h2>College Races</h2>ECAC CONFERENCE(Standings on Thu. Feb. 13)<h3>DIVISION I</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0463/3527926-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="582" height="514"></div><h3>DIVISION II</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0547/3527919-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="589" height="750"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Northeastern 5. Boston college 3Boston University 7, Harvard 2Providence 11, RPI 5St. Lawrence 8, Colgate 6Princeton 5, Army 4Vermont 2, St. Lawrence 1Northeastern 6, Brown 4New Hampshire 11, Yale 3<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><h3>DIVISION I</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0638/3527912-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="583" height="264"></div><h3>DIVISION II</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0730/3527905-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg" title="f0037-07" width="578" height="171"></div><h2>Minnesota Colleges</h2>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 10)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0826/3527898-1-eng-US/f0037-082.jpg" title="f0037-08" width="583" height="288"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>St. Thomas 9. St. Olaf 2Augsburg 9, Hamline 2Gustavus 13. St. Johns 1Wi-Stout 11, Macalester 1St. Mary&rsquo;s 7. Hamline 2St. Johns 4. St. Olaf 2Gustavus 6, Concordia 5Gustavus 6. Concordia 2Augsburg 11. St. Thomas 4WisStevens Pt 5, Macalester 0Augsburg 11. St. Mary&rsquo;s 2St. John&rsquo;s 10. St. Olaf 2St. Thomas 18. Macalester 0St. Cloud St. 6. Hamline 4Gustavus 7. Wis-River Falls 2St. Thomas 5, St. John&rsquo;s 2St. Thomas 5. St. John&rsquo;s 2Augsburg 9, Concordia 8Concordia 5, Augsburg 4WisStout 6, St. Olaf 0Air Force 10, Gustavus 8. &#9632;

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BU Knocks Harvard From Unbeatens In Winning 23rd Beanpot Tourney

<h2>NEW YORK COLLEGES</h2>(Standings on Wed. Feb. 12)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0923/3528041-1-eng-US/f0037-092.jpg" title="f0037-09" width="580" height="226"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fordham 1 at Fairfield 12.Nassau 10 at Brooklyn 6.City College 2 at Fairfield 4.Ion a 3 at Fairfield 10.Brooklyn 4 at Iona 4.Wagner 2 at Fordham 1.<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1020/3528034-1-eng-US/f0037-102.jpg" title="f0037-10" width="585" height="589"></div><h2>ONTARIO COLLEGES</h2>(Standings on Fri. Feb. 14)<h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1114/3528027-1-eng-US/f0037-112.jpg" title="f0037-11" width="580" height="244"></div><h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1213/3528020-1-eng-US/f0037-122.jpg" title="f0037-12" width="580" height="115"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1311/3528013-1-eng-US/f0037-132.jpg" title="f0037-13" width="590" height="93"></div><h2>QUEBEC COLLEGES</h2>(Standings on Sat. Feb. 22)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1411/3528006-1-eng-US/f0037-142.jpg" title="f0037-14" width="584" height="171"></div><h2>IVY LEAGUE CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 10)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1510/3527999-1-eng-US/f0037-152.jpg" title="f0037-15" width="584" height="224"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-167/3527992-1-eng-US/f0037-162.jpg" title="f0037-16" width="589" height="288"></div><h2>ICHA CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Web. Feb. 19)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-174/3527985-1-eng-US/f0037-172.jpg" title="f0037-17" width="576" height="140"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wisconsin-Superior 7, Bemidji State 2, Wisconsin-Superior 5. Bemidji State 2.Lakehead 9, St. Scholastics 7.St. Scholastics 4. Lakehead 3Wisconsin-Superior 12. Bemidji State 2Bemidji State 4, Wisconsin-Superior 3.<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-184/3527978-1-eng-US/f0037-182.jpg" title="f0037-18" width="583" height="201"></div> &#9632;

f0037-09

Looking At The Races

<div class="byline">BY DEREK KNIGHT</div>Follow All The Action Every Week By Subscribing Today ToTHE HOCKEY NEWSSuperb Hockey Reading Each MonthHOCKEY WORLD & HOCKEY PICTORIALEAST YARMOUTH&mdash;It was a strange week for the North American Hockey League. The Cape Cod &lsquo;Coliseum, home of the Codders, had been shut down over a building financing problem. This closed Coliseum door left the Codders as orphans but only for a short time. After some early morning meetings the matter was resolved and the Codders once again had their home ice. Despite idle rumors to the contrary, the hockey club itself was never in trouble. The problem lay within the building structure.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01166/3528086-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="281" height="398"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jerry Welsh</figcaption></div>Good news and bad in Blazer land. The good news was that leading scorer Bobby Jones was reassigned to Syracuse by Baltimore. Also center Tom Trevelyan was returned to Syracuse by San Diego. The bad news was that center Fred Speck was called up to Baltimore. Speck was thought to be on permanent assignment to Syracuse. He may yet return. Defenseman Gary Sittler is nearing 250 minutes in penalties. Reg Krezanski is having his finest offensive season. The rugged rearguard had 51 points in 53 games. In another move right winger Jamie Bateman has been recalled by San Diego. Bateman hit for five goals and seven assists in 30 games. Bob Blanchet has proven his consistency this year. His goals-against average stood at 2.70. right in the area it&rsquo;s been all season long.JOHNSTOWN: Jets were a red hot club, winning 10 out of 13 games. Goal-tenders Ron Docken and Lou Levasseur were making the big plays in goal. Aggressive left winger Jack Carlson was still up with Minnesota (WHA). Galen Head is back on scoring track and at last glance was up to 14. Jets may finish the year with three 30-goal scorers. Jets&rsquo; brass feels that in Ned Dowd and Jean Tetrault, club has two of the loop&rsquo;s fastest skaters. Jim Adair remained on injury list. Jerry Welsh is certainly not a homer. The hustling forward connected for five goals in a recent six-game road trip. Nearly 4,000 fans turned out for a 7-1 Jet romp over Mohawk Valley. The win was the 600th career win for the Johnstown hockey club since they were founded in 1950. Jets jumped from seventh place to fourth after hot streak.MOHAWK VALLEY: Guy Provost&rsquo;s 30 points topped club&rsquo;s defensemen in scoring. Bob Murray was still high man with points. He had 59 in 56 games. Comets have made some significant personnel changes this season. Players like Brian McKenzie and Ron Walters have played most of the season with the Comets while Jeff Jacques. Peter Marrin. Gordie Titcomb, and Lou Nistico have all spent time up with the big club. Jim Park has been carrying the bulk of the Comets&rsquo; goaltending chores on his shoulders this year. Park had played in 41 games out of the team&rsquo;s 61. In Doug Brindley. Peter Marrin, and Brian McKenzie, coach Brian Conacher knows he&rsquo;s strong at the center ice postionPHILADELPHIA: Crowd of over 4.000 turned out for a Monday nightaffair with Syracuse. It was the largest weekday crowd of the year for the expansionists. whose attendance has really started to pick up. The faithful were rewarded by a 5-4 overtime victory. Mike Boland&rsquo;s hat trick, including the game winner, proved to be too much. Bob Collyard remained the club&rsquo;s top scorer with 84 points. Rejean Lemelin was putting it all together in the Firebirds&rsquo; net. Having to split the time between he and Dan Sullivan must be a pleasant problem for coach Gregg Pilling. Tom Young now appears fully recovered from ankle injury. The hustling right winger came up with a fine effort versus Long Island and scored once.LONG ISLAND: It was a happy 33rd birthday for George Swarbrick. The veteran right winger scored two goals and an assist in a 7-4 win over Philadelphia. A day later George received a two-game suspension from commissioner Bob Dextraze for two separate incidents related to the home-and-home series with Philadelphia. Statistics show that Ken Ireland has been the Cougars&rsquo; most effective faceoff man. Howie Colborne notched an empty net goal against his Philly teammates. Howie was working hard against his ex-mates. Swarbrick received the &ldquo;Supreme Cougar Award&rdquo; for the month of January.BROOME: Rod Bloomfield&rsquo;s 41 goals gives him a good shot at a 50-goal season, barring injuries, of course. Bloomfield notched 47 goals last year in 73 games. Ken Gratton, with 25 goals, appears to be a good choice to hit 30 goals along with Ken Davidson. Interesting to note that both goaltenders Lemay and Kosar each had 14 minutes in penalties. Four Dusters had topped the 100. minute mark in penalties with two or three others standing a good chance of joining them by season&rsquo;s end. Paul Brown led defensive troops in goals with seven. &ldquo;Brownie&rdquo; was also high man in penalty minutes with 156. In Randy Mac Gregor. Ken Davidson. Frank Hamill and Walter Johnson. Dusters look good on the right side.MAINE: Tom Pinder has been a productive player for Maine. In 40 games, the digging center had 39 points. Jacques Blain&rsquo;s 31 points continued to pace the rearguards. Oft-injured Rick Dupras is back and will help club if he can remain in good health. Bernie Wolfe still drawing raves around the league for. his play. Wolfe was sporting a winning 18-17-1 record. Nordiques had closed the gap on seventh place Long Island to two points but a Cougar victory hiked it back up to four. Paul Larose and Bob Murphy continue to carry the club&rsquo;s offensive load. Nordiques&rsquo; encounter at Long Island on March 12 could be one of their biggest games of the year in terms of importance.CAPE COD: Biggest news here is in goal, where newcomer Bruce Landon made an instant hit. Landon was assigned here earlier in the year by New England (WHA) but did not report. With the desire to go between the posts haunting him. Landon returned, but reportedly under a new contract, one calling for three years. The Whalers will feel more confident now especial! since they have had injury problems it goal for a good part of the season. With Bob Charlebois. John Danby. and Denis Lemieux. Codders have no problems at center ice. Codders nipped Maine 4-3. Ron Snell hit for five goals in his first six games. He also notched four assists.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02120/3528079-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="561" height="693"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOM YOUNG</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0386/3528072-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="555" height="682"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRUCE LANDON</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0038-01

Jets Jump To Fourth Place With Red Hot Surge

<div class="byline">BY JACK GATECLIFF</div>TORONTO&mdash;The Ontario Hockey Association Major Junior A League will expand from 11 to 12 teams in the 197576 season.That was the word from the Junior A Council, formed of club owners, who reported through commissioner Tubby Schmalz that a group representing Windsor had been granted a franchise.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01149/3528152-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="255" height="437"><figcaption class="caption-body">Barry Scully</figcaption></div>No figure was revealed as to the fee but it is believed to be considerably higher than the $50,000 Kingston Canadians paid when they were admitted two years ago. Windsor had applied last season but were rejected on the grounds that the ancient building in which the Southern Ontario Tier Two Spitfires play was not up to Major Junior A standard.There was nothing wrong with the capacity&mdash;about 5,000&mdash;but rather that the ice surface is 15 feet shorter and five feet narrower than the preferred 190 ft. &times; 80 ft.However the majority owners of the Spitfires&mdash;Fred Sorrell, Brian Beach. Al McLaren and Cal Parent&mdash;agreed to renovate the building at a cost of $200,000 and it will meet specifications by next fall.The Major Junior A League currently plays a 70-game schedule but this will be reduced to 66 with each of the 12 teams playing the other clubs six times.Another application for a franchise, from North Bay, was rejected after the Windsor bid was given unanimous approval.The two-division setup will mark the first time the Ontario group has divided since the mid-1940s and the thinking behind the arrangement is that it&rsquo;s much better to be fifth in a six-team group than 10th or 11th among 12 teams.The divisions will be completely interlocking but just what the makeup will be remains to be seen.Geographically it could be Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Ottawa, Kingston, Peterborough and possibly Oshawa in one division; St. Catharines, Hamilton, Toronto, Kitchener, London and Windsor in another.The Spitfires, by the way, should have the nucleus of an excellent team in Major Junior A as they have already clinched first place in the Southern Ontario Tier Two League.During their earlier stay in Major Junior A&mdash;from 1946 until 1953&mdash;they finished first twice but never won the Ontario championship.Their players included such NHL stars as Glenn Hall, Terry Sawchukand Dutch Riebel.TORONTO: The Marlboros have all but clinched first place in the final standings and manager Frank Bonello&rsquo;s chief worry is to prevent his players becoming complacent&hellip;After being held to a surprise 6-6 tie in Kitchener they moved into London (where they have seldom won over the years) and trounced the Knights 11-2&hellip;Bruce Boudreau scored three times to go ovet the 50-goal mark in London and reach 120 points, not too far below leader Tim Young of Ottawa.HAMILTON: Fincups are still a long way from challenging Toronto&rsquo;s supremacy but they could cause the biggest surprise of the season by jumping all the way from last to second position&hellip;They have a well-balanced team coached by Bert Templeton and are now winning regularly.PETERBOROUGH: The Petes are right on the Fincups&rsquo; heels but coach Roger Nielson is realistic enough to know that if he can nail down second place it will be a major victory as first is out of sight&hellip;Club definitely missing their fine goaltender Frank Salive, out with a broken jaw&hellip;However rookie Greg Millen kicked out 29 shots as Petes nudged Kingston 1-0 in the lowest-scoring game of the season.OTTAWA: The 67s are the second highest (to Marlboros naturally) scoring team in the league and the only one, at this writing, with more than 300goals&hellip;However this would be difficult to prove in several of their last games&hellip;They were shut out 7-0 in Oshawa, then 24 hours later suffered the same fate when they were blanked 5-0 in St. Catharines&hellip;They finally got on the scoresheet in Hamilton, but still lost 6-2, as Peter Lee and Dan Blair proved to coach Brian Kilrea they really hadn&rsquo;t forgotten their way to the opposing nets&hellip;ST. CATHARINES: The Hawks were without their two top centers Greg Craig and Doug Caines for more than two weeks but the slack was taken up by a newly-constructed line formed of veteran Rick Adduono between Kevin Kennery and Bill Hamilton&hellip;Adduono, who shared the league points title last season with Jack Valiquette of Sault Ste. Marie, had been plagued with injuries and tough luck around the nets but with his new partners has once again found the range&hellip;Kennery, 5&rsquo;8&rdquo; and 150 pounds, scored three goals in two successive games&mdash;5-0 over Ottawa and 8-1 over Kitchener.SUDBURY: The Wolves and Black Hawks are nip and tuck for fifth place but, at the moment, don&rsquo;t seem to have too high hopes of going higher unless Ottawa&rsquo;s collapse continues&hellip;The Wolves kept in step with St. Catharines by edging Oshawa 5-4 after being thumped 10-6 in Sault Ste. Marie.OSHAWA: Coach Gus Bodnar still concerned over team&rsquo;s inconsistency&hellip;Typical example was blasting the. strong Ottawa 67s 7-0 at home, then a few nights later losing 5-4, also on home ice, to Sudbury Wolves&hellip;Paul Harrison had his first shutout of the season against 67s while the scoring was provided by Brian Drumm with a pair, Terry Angel, Greg Malone. Peter Vande-mark. Bud Stefanski and Bob Gladney.SAULT STE. MARIE: It was a case of happy days are here again as the Grehounds blasted Sudbury 10-4&hellip;The two Northern Ontario teams were admitted to the league three years ago and have continued their rivalry which carried over from junior and senior days&mdash;over a great number of years&hellip;Cary Farelli still going great guns with three goals and added three assists for 103 points.KINGSTON: Canadians kept their playoff hopes alive with decisive 10-3 win over London after losing 11-6 to the same club three nights earlier&hellip;Crowds have dropped somewhat after great start but average still well above 2,700&hellip;Against Knights at home there were 2,483 in the stands and watched Brad Rhiness, Alex Forsyth and Barry Scully score two each&hellip;The victory was a must for the Canadians as it kept them above 10th place London and just behind Sault Ste. Marie presently holding down final playoff position.LONDON: Coach Bill Long must get some strong work out of his club if they are going to qualify for the post-season games&hellip;They were rated one of the better teams earlier in the season, have occasionally shown good talent but just can&rsquo;t put any kind of a winning string together.KITCHENER: Jim Morrison, the former National Hockey League defenseman who took over as Ranger coach from veteran Eddie Bush, knew he had a lot of rebuilding to do with the last place Kitchener club so didn&rsquo;t step into the position with his eyes shut&hellip;In his first game they surprised Marlboros by holding them to the 6-6 tie but it was no contest in St. Catharines as they were trounced 8-1 and were outshot 38-24&hellip;Dwight Foster spoiled Bill Cheropita&rsquo;s bid for a second straight shutout with a first period goal&hellip;Rangers can&rsquo;t escape the basement this year but are planning for better things in 1975-76.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02107/3528145-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="561" height="544"><figcaption class="caption-body">GREG MILLEN&hellip;Shutout In Relief</figcaption></div><h2>HOW THEY STAND</h2><h3>WESTERN CANADA LEAGUE</h3>(Standings on Tue. Feb. 18)EASTERN DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0381/3528138-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="599" height="211"></div>WESTERN DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0465/3528131-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="598" height="177"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0549/3528124-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="591" height="405"></div><h3>ONTARIO MAJOR LEAGUE</h3>(Standings on Sun, Feb. 23)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0639/3528117-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="591" height="348"></div> &#9632;

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Windsor Granted Major Junior Franchise; Inconsistency Generals’ Biggest Problem

<div class="byline">BY BILL BRILL</div>THE HOCKEY NEWSEVERY WEEK for the price of a ticket to a SINGLE GAME!Superb Hockey Reading Each MonthHOCKEY WORLD & HOCKEY PICTORIALHAMPTON&mdash;The record book shows that in 21 years of professional hockey, all of it in the minor leagues. John Brophy played in 1,208 games. It also reveals that Brophy picked up an all-time hockey record of 3,827 penalty minutes.Next to Brophy, Dave Schultz was a piker.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01124/3528197-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="273" height="447"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Brophy</figcaption></div>Yet in his relatively short career as a hockey coach, Brophy has maintained his cool. His teams have not been head-hunters although they have not steered away from body contact. Last year, Brophy coached the Long Island Ducks in the North American League. Finishing strong, apparently a Brophy trademark, the Ducks reached the playoff finals before losing to Syracuse.Most of the team, and their 42-year-old coach, expected to be playing in Fayetteville. N.C. this year as an expansion entry in the Southern League.While the team was still training in Canada, Fayetteville collapsed. It appeared that Brophy and his team would never take the ice. But a last-minute move to Hampton not only saved Brophy, it helped save the SHL&rsquo;s second campaign. Without Hampton, the Southern would have been a four-team league.Hampton is not only the hottest entry in the SHI, at the moment, leading the league in attendance and driving for first place, but Brophy is the odds-on choice as coach of the year.As a coach, Brophy admits to a certain maturity he did not always exhibit as a player. He realizes that games are not won in the penalty box. Hampton is aggressive, but not dirty. And the Gulls are winning, taking 14 out of 15 before losing a back-to-back series with Winston-Salem.One of eight children in a railroad worker&rsquo;s family in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Brophy never kidded himself about his playing ability. He was a tough defenseman, &ldquo;But I knew which way I was going.&rdquo; He knew that in the six-team NHL there would never be room for him.For nine years. Brophy labored in the now-defunct Eastern League, where he was among the players who helped establish that league&rsquo;s &ldquo;hatchet&rdquo; reputation.As a coach, however, he spends hours developing young players. &ldquo;I get more out of that,&rdquo; he said. He does not even think about moving up as a big league coach. &ldquo;Once you get hired by a-(NHL or WHA) club, that&rsquo;s the day they start thinking about firing you. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a dog-eat-dog world.&rdquo;Brophy says this year has been &ldquo;the most satisfying ever in my life.&rdquo; The false start, the late switch to Hampton all were calculated to make it impossible. The team wasn&rsquo;t even officially born until two days after the season started.But now the Gulls are flying high, even with an injury to their resident muscle man. Curt Brackenbury, who severed a tendon in his wrist when he fell through a glass door in his apartment. Hampton is fighting with Charlotte for first place and will be the favored team in the playoffs.Brophy is still ecstatic over the turn away crowd of 9,000 on Fan Appreciation Night. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the biggest crowd in minor league hockey this year and it was one of the great sights of my lifetime. What was so memorable is why they came. They came to support us. That makes it so tremendous.&rdquo;GREENBORO: The woes that have beset the Generals all year cropped up again at Charlotte. Early in the game, goalie Mike Corcoran came out to stop a Charlotte breakaway. Not only did the checkers score, but coach Garry MacMillan rammed into Corcoran. The goalie had to be carried off the ice with a shoulder injury. Charlotte totalled 64 shots in that 13-2 rout, which was Greensboro&rsquo;s *sixth straight during an extended road trip. The Generals appear certain to finish last for the first time in their history.WINSTON-SALEM: Now the biggest team in the SHL, the Twins are still treatening third place Roanoke Valley. Winston-Salem knocked off red-hot Hampton twice in a row, lost a tough 5-4 decision at Roanoke and then came back home to beat Charlotte, 5-4. New additions are really paying off. Defenseman Jim McCrimmon is scoring as well as hitting people. Don Herriman has had a hot hand since coming down from Edmonton and goalie Bob Champoux has steadied Winston-Salem&rsquo;s weakest position. Captain Tom Stachniak placed himself on the voluntary retired list. Stachniak had been bothered by injuries and, with the new players, did not figure strongly in coach Forbes Kennedy&rsquo;s plans.ROANOKE: The Rebels were simply crippled by injuries. They had only 11 skaters in a 3-1 loss at Charlotte, the league minimum. Several of those players were hurt. Left behind were Claude Piche (broken foot bone), Ron Ashton (knee cartilage), Bobby Guindon (concussion) and Mike Barnett (charleyhorse). Only Guindon returned for a 5-4 home win over Winston-Salem. Roanoke received aid from In-dianapolis in the form of left winger Rich Pumple and defenseman Ralph Hopiavouri. Pumple scored twice and Hopiavouri had two assists in their first game. Rookie Randy Andreachuk tied a game with Charlotte 25 seconds from the end and then beat the Checkers, 6-5, at 2:48 of overtime. &ldquo;I hadn&rsquo;t been scoring and I was getting frustrated,&rdquo; said Andreachuk after his two big goals.CHARLOTTE: Disappointed by his team&rsquo;s floundering play after building a huge lead, coach Pat Kelly called for scrimmages in practice. It paid off in the 13-2 rout of Greenboro, with Yvon Dupuis scoring four goals. &ldquo;I just thought the scrimmages would do us some good.&rdquo; Kelly said. &ldquo;We divided the teams up and the losers had to pay a buck.&rdquo; Charlotte finally came to terms with veteran center Dave Gilmour of the defunct Baltimore Clippers. Gilmour said he was headed home after asking for $400 weekly and being offered $250 by Kelly. The next night, however, Gilmour was in the lineup at Roanoke and played well. Charlotte has been hurting at center since Mike Hobin was recalled.<h2>SHL Leaders</h2><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0280/3528190-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="588" height="463"></div><h3>LEADING GOALERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0353/3528183-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="580" height="209"></div> &#9632;

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Brophy Leading Candidate For SHL Coaching Honor

<div class="byline">BY RALPH BRIDGLAND</div>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;Quebec Remparts are finding out that 331 goals is a lot of offense.Any team which loses four players, who combined for a total of 331 markers, has to slip a notch or two no matter what calibre of replacements are recruited. Last year&rsquo;s Quebec Major Junior League champions and Memorial Cup finalists are struggling along in the East Division this season. While only two points out of first place, Les Remparts&rsquo; overall record ranks fifth in the 10-team league. If the club was in the West section it would be fighting for the final playoff berth.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01114/3528249-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="264" height="473"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gaetan Boucher</figcaption></div>The departure of Real Cloutier, Jacques Locas, Richard Nantais and Guy Chouinard to professional ranks has left the Remparts with an unimpressive offense. Their defensive record is the reason they are able to stay in the hunt for top Eastern honors.&ldquo;When the defense and goaltenders are playing well we don&rsquo;t lose too many games,&rdquo; said coach Marc Picard.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not big enough up front. We have to work and skate like heck.&rdquo;Remparts&rsquo; two big guns (center Gaetan Boucher and winger Daniel Beaulieu are both under 5&rsquo;10&rdquo; and 170 pounds) are prime examples of the club&rsquo;s lack of size. Only two players are over 6&rsquo; and both are members of the blueline corps.&ldquo;We have to gain more polish offensively and learn not to panick and fool around in our own zone,&rdquo; opined Picard.&ldquo;We have to win on the road but we have also lost some bad games at home.&rdquo;Looking ahead to next season the coach said. &ldquo;We lose just two players at the conclusion of this campaign, Florent Fortierand Daniel Beau lieu, both left wingers. I&rsquo;m looking forward to it since our goaltending and defense will be intact.&rdquo;Remparts completed a six-game road trip with wins in Montreal 8-4 and Chicoutimi 8-3 before suffering a 10-2 drubbing in Laval. Boucher recorded his third hat trick of the season in defeating Montreal while Beaulieu and Denis Turcotte tallied a pair of markers in pasting of Sagueneens.Club remains two points back of leading Trois-Rivieres but have three games in hand on the Draveurs.TROIS-RIVIERES: Draveurs began week on positive note by gaining three out of four points on the road but then returned home to drop 6-5 decision to Sorel.Dave Miglia tallied game-winner mid-way through final period in 5-3 win over West Division leading Sherbrooke and Richard Blanchette capped Draveurs&rsquo; comeback effort with tying goal in third stanza in 4-4 sawoff with Sorel after having fallen behind 4-0 in the first period.CHICOUTIMI: Who would have thought the team with the worst offensive record in the QMJHL would explode for 19 goals in one week, let alone one game?After dropping an 8-3 decision to Quebec, the Sagueneens peppered Shawinigan goalers Gilles Cloutier and Yves Guillemette with 72 shots and came away with an unbelievable 19-1 triumph.Seven goals in &lsquo;each of the first two periods proceeded the Dynamos&rsquo; only tally just over a minute into the final stanza.Daniel Lecours led the onslaught with four goals while Alain Cote, Sylvain Locas and Marc D&rsquo;Amico each had a hat trick.Sagueneens might have put the goals to better use by spreading them out over a few games as they are being closely followed by both Sorel and Shawinigan. in the battle for the final playoff berth.SOREL: Black Hawks won two (3-2 over Montreal and 6-5 over Trois-Rivieres), lost two (to Cornwall 4-2 and Shawinigan 9-6) and tied 4-4 with Trois-Rivieres to move into third place deadlock with Chicoutimi. Sagueneens hold five games in hand however.Gilles Parenteau and Richard Dalpe had a pair of markers in road victory over Draveurs, Dalpe also had a pair in deadlock with same Draveurs and Daniel St. Jean scored game-winner against Montreal 15 minutes into final period.SHAWINIGAN: Dynamos opened week&rsquo;s activities with important 9-6 home ice win over Sorel but the less said about their other three games the better.A 6-4 loss to Cornwall was respectable but in the remaining two contests the Dynamos were outscored 32-4 and outshot 125-44. in Montreal (13-3) and Chicoutimi (19-1).Despite poor record, Shawinigan remains in the hotly contested battle for fourth place with Chicoutimi and Sorel.SHERBROOKE: Could it be the Beavers are slumping?Losses to Hull 8-3 and Trois-Rivieres 5-3 combined to give the West Division leaders a pointless week.Sherbrooke still has firm control of lead, six points up on Cornwall with four games in hand,. and it will take many more loss-filled weeks to knock club from top spot.CORNWALL: Royals picked up ground on leading Sherbrooke but still have a long way to go.Perfect week saw club post wins over Sorel (4-2), Laval (8-4) and Shawinigan (6-4).Bill Smith and Ron Davidson scored twice each in edging of Black Hawks, Pierre Brassard counted four times in doubling of Nationals and Yvon Disotell had hat trick in win over Dynamos.MONTREAL: After showing signs of escaping their earlier season form, the Juniors managed only one win in four outings.Trouncing of Shawinigan 13-3 was followed by setbacks to Quebec 8-4, Hull 6-3 and Sorel 3-2.Jean-Luc Phaneuf tallied five times in win over Dynamos.HULL: Festivals defeated Sherbrooke 8-3 and Montreal 6-3 before falling to Laval 5-4.Denis Pommerleau tallied twice in thumping of West Division leading Beavers and came right back against Montreal to record hat trick.LAVAL: Nationals kept playoff hopes alive by downing Quebec 10-2 and Hull 5-4. Also suffered 8-4 loss to Royals in Cornwall.League leading scorer Michel Bossy scored four times in thrashing of Remparts while Michel Dalbello and Mario Piacente had two apiece in edging of Festivals.<h2>HOW THEY STAND</h2><h3>QUEBEC MAJOR LEAGUE</h3>(Standings on Thu. Feb. 20)<h3>EAST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0272/3528242-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="583" height="169"></div><h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0348/3528235-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="586" height="173"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thu. Feb. 13Sorel 2 at Cornwall 4.Fri. Feb. 14Sorel 6 at Shawinigan 9; Trois-Rivieres 5 at Sherbrooke 3; Quebec 8 at Montreal 4Sun. Feb. 16Laval 4 at Cornwall 8; Quebec 8 at Chicoutimi 3: Shawinigan 3 at Montreal 13; Trois-Rivieres 4 at Sorel 4; Sherbrooke 3 at Hull 8.Mon. Feb. 17Quebec 2 at Laval 10; Cornwall 6 at Shawinigan 4.Tue. Feb. 18Shawinigan 1 at Chicoutimi 19; Sorel 6 at Trois-Rivieres 5; Montreal 3 at Hull 6.Wed. Feb. 19Hull 4 at Laval 5; Montreal 2 at Sorel 3.<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0439/3528228-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="589" height="349"></div> &#9632;

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Remparts Depend On Strong Defense

<div class="byline">BY BOB STRUMM</div>BRANDON&mdash;Who would want to ride buses for the Brandon Wheat Kings any longer than he had to? Rick Blight, that&rsquo;s who.Blight returned to the Wheat Kings of the Western Canada Hockey League this season, even though he had a chance to escape the hangups of junior hockey. Blight, it was said, had a couple of things to prove.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01114/3528280-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="273" height="469"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brian Shmyr</figcaption></div>For one, he was drafted by Michican Stags of the World Hockey Association as an underage selection last spring but was completely ignored by National Hockey League clubs. Blight, understandably, was disappointed.With Michigan, he had no bargaining power whatsoever. And the Stags were not the most secure franchise in hockey which has since been substantiated by their recent move to Baltimore.What&rsquo;s more, Blight wanted to show the NHL teams they made a mistake by overlooking his 18-year-old credentials. So he came back&hellip;and the Wheat Kings are glad he did.There was something else bothering Blight. Last season, he played right wing alongside Ron Chipperfield, the WCHL&rsquo;s all-time leading scorer who potted 90 goals and 73 assists in his draft performance.Blight and left winger Dale McMullin, another one of this year&rsquo;s top drafts, were subjected to a number of injustices because they flanked Chipperfield. It was as though they wore unlisted numbers.People said that as Chipperfield went, so went the Wheat Kings&hellip;including Blight and McMullin. One writer even had the audacity to call the Chipperfield-Blight-McMullin trio the Helicopter Line, because it had no wings.Blight has since proven he can stand on his own two skates, and so has McMullin for that matter. Blight has 46 goals with 14 games remaining and is almost certain to surpass last season&rsquo;s total of 49 without Mr. Chipperfield.Blight has also collected his 46 goals and 40 assists playing with three different centers, Dale Parker, Dan Bonar and now Dale Kaluzniak. Obviously the identity of the pivot doesn&rsquo;t make the man go.&ldquo;Rick has had an outstanding year for us, even though he hit a bit of a slump right after the new year,&rdquo; offered Brandon coach Norm Johnson. &ldquo;He plays the power play (on the point or on the wing) and kills penalties as well as taking his regular shift.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe that any one guy can make a line go, even if the guy is Ron Chipperfield,&rdquo; added Johnson. &ldquo;Rick and Dale have done a lot to enlarge their status this season.&rdquo;McMullin has 26 goals and 43 assists for 69 points, and will have trouble matching last year&rsquo;s goal total of 35. But his overall play with the emphasis on defensive play and checking is considered vastly improved.As a matter of fact, things are looking up all the way around in Brandon. First the Wheat Kings won two road games in a row for the first time this season.Then the much-celebrated Derek Spring showed up two and a half months late. Spring&rsquo;s services were acquired from Calgary back in early December in exchange for Dennis McLean.McLean has played extremely well for the lowly Cents. Now the Wheaties have something to show for the trade and Derek, once he gets in shape, could provide the spring towards playoff prominence.SASKATOON: Fred Williams put together his finest back-to-back games at center with the Blades&hellip;He contributed a goal in a 2-2 tie with Brandon, had two assists in a 3-0 win over Regina and skated miles on both occasions&hellip;Williams, in his fourth season with the Blades, now has 44 points, surpassing his best previous season which was 36 points last year.LETHBRIDGE: Terry Bucyk, the recent acquisition from Edmonton, provided a pair of big goals in 5-4 win over Kamloops and a 5-5 tie with the Chiefs&hellip;He also added three assists&hellip;Broncos then waltzed into Victoria and beat the Cougars 5-3&hellip;Number two goaltender Glen Anweiler was the hero making 43 saves&hellip;Anweiler was cut by Victoria earlier this season, and provided another example of those players who come back to haunt clubs&hellip;Gary Wagner scored the winner, his first goal in five weeks.REGINA: Goaltender Ed Staniowski suffered through his longest road trip in a three-year WCHL career&hellip;Pats were defeated 9-4 in Edmonton, 3-0in Saskatoon and 10-8 in Flin Flon&hellip;That&rsquo;s 22 goals given upin three games&hellip;Pats&rsquo; big line finally rediscovered their scoring ways in the loss to Flin Flon&hellip;Rob Tudor had three goals and three assists, Dave Faulkner had two goals and three assists, and Jim Minor had one goal and three assists.WINNIPEG: Clubs have won five of their last six games and still have a shot at a playoff spot&hellip;Kelly Greenbank continued his hot pace with a goal and three assists in a 4-3 win over Flin Flon&hellip;Greenbank now has 74 points including 39 goals&hellip;He still could become Winnipeg&rsquo;s first 50-goal man since Wayne Chemecki did it in 197071.FLIN FLON: Bombers are also making the chase for Eastern Division playoff spots interesting&hellip;They whipped Regina 10-8 with their finest offensive display of the year&hellip;Regina is one club they have a chance of catching.VICTORIA: Cougars have lost four of their last eight games, three of those defeats coming at home&hellip;Center Mel Bridgman now holds all Victoria&rsquo;s seasonal scoring records&hellip;He scored his 48th and 49th against Kamloops, his 50th against Lethbridge and his 51st against Medicine Hat&hellip;The old record was 47 set last year by Brad Anderson, now with Fort Worth of the Central League&hellip;Bridgman&rsquo;s 72 assists and 1^2 points are also records.MEDICINE HAT: The talented young Tigers still have a chance of catching Victoria, despite a 9-6 defeat on the island&hellip;Tigers trail the Cougars by eight points but have four games in hand&hellip;The loss snapped a four-game unbeaten string for the Tigers&hellip;Rookie Don Murdoch is now the owner of the club record for goals in a season&hellip;He scored his 65th of the season against the Cougars, breaking the old team record of 64 set last year by Ed Johnstone.KAMLOOPS: Chiefs have only won once in their last seven outings&hellip;They are still not out of the woods in the fight for a playoff spot&hellip;Mai Zinger broke an 11-game slump with two goals in a 6-6 tie with Medicine Hat&hellip;Don Moores passed the 30-goal plateau with one goal in a 5-4 loss to Lethbridge and another against Medicine HatNEW WESTMINSTER: Gord Laxton finally earned a well-deserved shutout, his first in the WCHL in two years&hellip;Laxton blanked Lethbridge 6-0&hellip;Amazingly enough, Laxton had to make only nine saves during the 60 minutes. his toughest in the dying minutes to preserve the shutout&hellip;Coach Punch McLean reportedly gave the Bruins five days off in hopes of stalling a Bruin slide&hellip;Apparently, it worked&hellip;Brian Shmyr has been one Bruin who has cooled off of late, but he still leads the club in scoring with 58 points.EDMONTON: Oil Kings have won five in a row and eight of their last 10&hellip;The second largest crowd of the season in Edmonton (1,994) watched the Kings defeat Regina 9-4&hellip;Kings&rsquo; crowds have suffered drastically this year because of the professional Oilers&hellip;Defenseman Robin Sadler contributed a goal and four assists against Regina, to lift his season totals to 22 goals and 47 assists for 69 points&hellip;He leads all WCHL blueliners in scoring&hellip;Sadler is a 19-year-old rookie.CALGARY: Cents won their 10th game of the season by upsetting Saskatoon Blades 6-4 in Saskatoon&hellip;Don Ashby, Dennis McLean and Kirk Fyffe each scored twice for the Cents&hellip;Ashby is having a sensational year despite the team&rsquo;s lowly status&hellip;He has 99 points including 45 goals. &#9632;

f0042-01

Wheat Kings’ Blight Proving His Worth; Bombers Make Playoff Chase Interesting

<div class="byline">BY JOHN ARNOLD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0277/3528311-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="813" height="1073"></div>SOLUTION IN MARCH 14 ISSUE<h2>ACROSS</h2>1. One of the Flyers.5. Initials of ex-NHL forward La-bine.7. Period of time.8. Short for first name of one of the Leafs.9. An NHL goaltender.12. One down was born here.14. One of the Bruins, (init)15. Presently in Lost place on the Norris Division.17. Initials of Inglis of Hershey.18. Native province of 8 down, (abbr.)19. One of the Bentleys.20. Preposition.21. Number worn by 14 across. (Rom. Numb.)23. Number worn by Greg Joly. (Rom Numb.)26. North America (Init)27. Pictured player.30. A Los Angeles defenseman. (Init)32. Beverage.33. 11th and 5th letters of the alphabet.34. One of the Seals.<h2>DOWN</h2>1. 1960-61 Calder Trophy winner.2. Former Detroit forward Reibel. (init.)3. A WHA high scorer.4. First name of a Montreal forward.5. One of the Sabres answers to this.6. A Buffalo center.8. NHL goaltender.10. NHL Statistician, (init.)11. 26th and 4th letters of the alphabet.13. One of the Dallas Black Hawks16. Conjunction.19. 1967-68 Hart Trophy winner.22. Former NHL defenseman.23. An NHL general manager.24. Number worn by Terry Harper. (Rom. Numb.)25. Preposition.28. One of the Leafs (init)29. Former NHL forward Henry used to be known by this nickname.31. A Boston right winger answers to this.<h2>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S ANSWERS</h2><h3>ACROSS</h3>1. GREEN.4. M.A.6. ORBAN.8. OLIVER.10. R.G.11. FAN.12. TO.13. F.B.I.14. PIT.15. ONT.16. INK.17. E.J.19. NO.21. MIKITA.24. SKI.25. E.N.26. KEN.28. D.D.29. ROBERTS.<h3>DOWN</h3>1. GEOFFRION.2. EZINNICKI.3. NOEL.4. MARTIN.5. ANGOTTI.7. R.R.9. LAB.14. POPEIN.18. J.T.20. OSLO.21. MIKE.22. KENT.23. ANDY.27. E.R. &#9632;

f0042-02

HOCKEY CROSSWORD

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01111/3528342-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="521" height="664"></div><h2>Jumping</h2>Learn to fly like a bird&mdash;on skates, of course.Jumping is something you can practise by yourself and you should do it as often as you can.,Think how often a jump can be a handy maneuvre; avoiding an opponent&rsquo;s sweep check, avoiding a teammate&rsquo;s shot on goal if you&rsquo;re in the flight path of the puck, avoiding a player who has just fallen in front of you.Just as you&rsquo;re about to leap, dig in with the rear skate and reach out with the other foot. Leap just far enough to clear the obstacle&mdash;no higher than necessary. When you&rsquo;ve learned to keep your balance after a straight leap, try coming down with the front skate ready to swerve to either side the split second it hits the ice.You&rsquo;ll find it&rsquo;s easier for you to leap off one foot than the other. You&rsquo;ll favor your &ldquo;natural side&rdquo;, just as you favor either arm when throwing. Don&rsquo;t practise the easy jumps; concentrate on the tough ones. &#9632;

f0043-01

MINOR HOCKEY TIPS

FARGO&mdash;With the Clark Cup playoff scheduled to begin the weekend of March 28. jockeying for the top four spots in the Midwest Hockey League takes on new intensity in in home stretch.The Fargo-Moorhead Sugar Kings, with a 2-0 record last week, came up the top performer in the MJHL by virtue of a pair of important wins over Minnesota. The series saw the debut of a new. line centered by lack Ganvo with newcomer wings Doug Christy and Tim Lawson. Lawson and Christy, both from UMD. had three goals apiece and a pair of assists while Ganyo recorded five assists in the contests. Bob Fish took over the MJHL scoring lead from linemate Don Madson. Fish has 37 goals and 43 assists in 35 games. Madson has 78 points and Earl Sargent is in third place with 77.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0275/3528373-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="267" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">Russ Welch</figcaption></div>ST. PAUL: Right wing Russ Welch put in four goals to lead Vulcan offense in a 5-4 decision over Austin. Defenseman George Kryzer shot in the fifth and winning goal in overtime. Earlier in the week, St. Paul came out on the short end of a 5-3 affair with the Minnesota Jr. Stars. The St. Paul Austin contest of Dec. 25, which was moved to Jan. 25, has been rescheduled for Sunday, Feb. 23 at the Four Seasons Arena in Owatonna. It will be a double-header, with the first game between the Austin Arrows and the Owatonna Webers, followed by the Vulcans-Mavericks match.AUSTIN: After edging the St. Cloud Blues6-5. paced by Mitch Corbin&rsquo;s pair of goals, the Mavericks fell 5-4 to St. Paul in overtime. Goalie Bill Milner saw action in both games, kicking out 76 shots in the two sessions. The Mavericks are three points away from fourth-place St. Cloud as a result of last week&rsquo;s action, but the Blues have five games in hand.ST. CLOUD: The Blues came home empty-handed from road games last week with Minnesota and Austin. Mike Hoberg picked up two goals and an assist in the see-saw battle with the Mavericks. Scott Owens was in the net for both games and turned away a total of 62 shots. New backing by the Blueline Club has more than doubled attendance at St. Cloud home contests.MINNESOTA: Goalie Chuck Holman recorded his third shutout of the season in the Jr. Stars 3-0 encounter with St. Paul last week. The winningest goaltender in the MJHL, Holman has a 3.12 average. Minnesota wound up last week 2-2. but still well ahead of the MJHL pack with 66 points. Right wing Rick Belde, who exploded from a scoring slump to put in seven goals and four assists in his last five games, received a bad facial cut in the Minnesota St. Paul game and was sidelined for the Fargo-Moorhead series. Jeff Furney returned to action and came away with seven points in four games. The Minnesota-Austin game scheduled for Wednesday. Feb. 26, at Met Center will be played Tuesday. Feb. 25, at the Bloomington Ice Garden. &#9632;

f0043-02

Fargo Kings Topple Leading North Stars

<h2>MIDWEST JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Feb. 11)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0446/3528446-1-eng-US/f0043-042.jpg" title="f0043-04" width="589" height="171"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Minnesota 3. St. Cloud 0Minnesota 5, St. Paul 3Austin 6, St. Cloud 5Fargo-Moorhead 7, Minnesota 4Fargo-Moorhead 6, Minnesota 4St. Paul 5. Austin 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0537/3528439-1-eng-US/f0043-052.jpg" title="f0043-05" width="594" height="570"></div><h2>SOUTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR</h2>(Standings on Fri. Feb. 14)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0358/3528432-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="588" height="198"></div><h2>NEW ENGLAND JUNIOR</h2>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 10)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0628/3528425-1-eng-US/f0043-062.jpg" title="f0043-06" width="585" height="231"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0726/3528418-1-eng-US/f0043-072.jpg" title="f0043-07" width="591" height="320"></div><h2>MICHIGAN JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 10)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0819/3528411-1-eng-US/f0043-082.jpg" title="f0043-08" width="590" height="322"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0918/3528404-1-eng-US/f0043-092.jpg" title="f0043-09" width="588" height="456"></div> &#9632;

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March 7, 1975

World Hockey Association Summaries

WHA Team Rosters

NHL players’ Scoring & Penalty Statistics

Maloney Working To Make It As Player